The color line, also known as the color barrier, in American baseball excluded African American players from Major League Baseball and its affiliated Minor Leagues until 1947 (with a few notable exceptions in the 19th century before the line was firmly established). Racial segregation in professional baseball was sometimes called a gentlemen's agreement, meaning a tacit understanding, as there. After World War II, the Brooklyn Dodgers breeched the color line with the signing of Jackie Robinson in 1946.
When Robinson made his debut with the Dodgers on April 15, 1947, he broke baseball's color barrier and the slow process of integration in major league baseball began. Larry Doby broke the color barrier in the American League on July 5, 1947. Breaking the Color Line: 1940 to 1946 By the 1940s, organized baseball had been racially segregated for many years.
The black press and some of their white colleagues had long campaigned for the integration of baseball. Wendell Smith of The Pittsburgh Courier was especially vocal. Before Jackie: Baseball's Color Line The 1888 Syracuse Stars included two Black players, catcher Moses Fleetwood Walker (top row, far left), and pitcher Robert Higgins (bottom row, far left).
On July 14, 1887, International League owners voted to ban any future contracts with Black players. On April 15, 1947, Major League Baseball's color line was officially broken with the debut of Jackie Robinson for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. Robinson Breaks the Color Line in Major-League Baseball Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color line in Major League Baseball in 1947 marked a pivotal moment in American sports and society.
Prior to his entry, African Americans were systematically excluded from the sport due to a longstanding segregationist agreement among team owners. The color line, or the color barrier, in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Major League Baseball and its affiliated Minor Leagues until 1947. Six years after the color line had been broken, only six out of the sixteen total teams in Major League Baseball had allowed an African-American player on their roster.67 The Boston Red Sox were the last to bring up an African-American player from their minor leagues, more than twelve years later.68 As expected, the Negro League's attendance.
The color line in American baseball was an unwritten rule. It stopped Black players from joining Major League Baseball (MLB) and its smaller leagues, called Minor Leagues. The Baseball Color Line excluded African Americans from playing in White Major League Baseball Leagues.
The Color Line was broken in 1947 by Jackie Robinson, who played his first game in the Majors as a Brooklyn Dodger at Ebbets Field. The Color Line was finished in 1959, when the Boston Red Sox became the final MLB team to play an African American in a game.