A forum member contacted me about my Breaking The Color Line Collection. I thought I might as well share it here.
Thanks for the interest
Herb
This set of cards represents the first Black Players to play for each Major league baseball team. It is a project that is an off-shoot of another project that I just completed (From Negro League To Major League).
The collection contains a rookie card of each player that had a rookie card issued.
There are two players that did not have a rookie card issued, Nino Escalera and John Kennedy. To represent Escalera I’ve included a Larry Fritsch card from their 1977 “one Year Winners” set. To represent John Kennedy, I’ve included a beautiful custom card made by Bob Lemke (forum member)in 2012.
Please note that Henry Thompson was not only the first Black player for the Browns in 1947, but he was also with Monte Irvin on July 8, 1949, the two of them breaking the color line playing for the New York Giants. Nino Escalera and Chuck Harmon also made their debut on the same day, April 17, 1954 for the Cincinnati Reds.
Included with this collection of cards is a card of Moses Fleetwood Walker. The Fleetwood card is from the Upper Deck, 1994 American Epic card set, based on the Ken Burns film “Baseball the American Epic”.
Fleetwood is documented as being the first Black man to appear in a major league baseball game on May 1, 1884 for the Toledo Blue Stockings, during their one year in the American Association. His younger brother, Weldy also played some games with the Toledo team. Moses Fleetwood was injured before the season ended causing him to leave the team. The color barrior was enacted in 1888 and remained in place until 1947. Enjoy......
