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Originally Posted by perezfan
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Mark, I was the winning bidder on this one. I didn’t want to say anything until I had it in hand. This Jackie Robinson barnstorming pennant was on my “top 3 pennants wanted” list, and I was surprised to see it turn up in a 24 hour eBay auction. There must be more of them out there, but I haven’t seen one for sale before. The barnstorming tours are a fascinating story and important part of baseball and American history, dating back to Ruth and Gehrig and continuing up through the date of this pennant. Jackie headed up 3 tours, one in 1948, one in 1950, and the one this pennant was made for, 1953. Interestingly, the last one was the only one that also featured some white players on his team, including Branca and Hodges, however there was at least one game when the white players had to sit on the bench when local laws segregation laws prevented blacks and white from playing together. This is only my fourth Jackie pennant, and by my count I still have 5 to go.
1953 Jackie Robinson all-star.jpg