Breaking the Color Barrier

[herbc]

In honor of Black History Month, I’ve decided to post a few cards from my collection.

Breaking the Color Barrier in Major League Baseball

This first set of cards represents the first Black Players to play for each Major league baseball team.

The collection contains a conventional rookie card of each player that had one issued.

There are two players that did not have a card, Nino Escalera and John Kennedy. To represent Escalera I’ve included a Larry Fritsch card from the 1977 “One Year Winners” set. To represent John Kennedy, I’ve included a custom card made by Bob Lemke in 2012.

Please note that Henry Thompson was not only the first player for the Browns in 1947, but he along with Monte Irvin, on July 8, 1949, broke the color line with the New York Giants. Nino Escalera and Chuck Harmon also made their debut on the same day, April 17, 1954 for the Cincinnati Redlegs.

I’ve also included in this collection, 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.

The color barrier was enacted in 1888 and remained in place until 1947.

Moses Fleetwood Walker, Toledo Blue Stockings, May 1, 1884

Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodgers, April 15, 1947

Larry Doby, Cleveland Indians, July 5, 1947

Henry Thompson*, St. Louis Browns, July17, 1947 (7/8/49 Giants)

Monte Irvin (*H. Thompson), New York Giants, July 8, 1949

Sam Jethroe, Boston Braves, April 18, 1950

Orestes Minoso, Chicago White Sox, May 1, 1951

Bob Trice, Philadelphia Athletics, September 13, 1953

Ernie Banks, Chicago Cubs, September 17, 1953

Curt Roberts, Pittsburgh Pirates, April 13, 1954

Tom Alston, St. Louis Cardinals, April 13, 1954

Chuck Harmon, Cincinnati Reds, April 17, 1954 (*see Escalera)

**Nino Escalera (No RC's), Cincinnati Reds, April 17, 1954

Carlos Paula, Washington Senators, September 6, 1954

Elston Howard, New York Yankees, April 14, 1955

**John Kennedy (No RC's), Philadelphia Phillies, April 22, 1957

Ossie Virgil, Detroit Tigers, June 6, 1958

Pumpsie Green, Boston Red Sox, July 21, 1959

[herbc]

This second group of cards are of players who entered the Major Leagues from the Negro League. I was inspired after I viewed an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2012. I collected each card that they previewed on their website. Enjoy!

Jackie Robinson, 1948-49 Leaf

Roy Campanella, 1949 Bowman

Leroy "Satchell" Paige, 1949 Bowman

Larry Doby, 1952 Bowman

Sam Jethroe, 1952 Bowman

Luke Easter, 1952 Bowman

Don Newcombe, 1952 Bowman

Monte Irvin, 1952 Bowman

Henry Thompson, 1953 Topps

George Crowe, 1953 Topps

Monte Irvin, 1953 Topps

Joe Black, 1953 Topps

Harry Simpson, 1953 Topps

Jim Pendleton, 1953 Topps

Satchell Paige, 1953 Topps

Willie Mays, 1953 Topps

Willie Mays, 1954 Topps

Henry Aaron, 1954 Topps

[ALR-bishop]

Great post. Very interesting and informative....and some great cards too. Thanks for the effort

[Exhibitman]

Great thread, Herb! It would be interesting to see this idea spread across the major sports that were segregated, like Kenny Washington and Woody Strode*, Earl Lloyd and Nat Clifton, etc. Any plans for that? Any signed stuff?

One interesting aspect of boxing collecting for me has been the way that racist attitudes were dealt with in comparison to baseball. There was definitely some bad stuff at the heavyweight division level (Peter Jackson's freeze-out, the reaction to Jack Johnson, Harry Wills' freeze-out) but nothing like the 'Gentlemen's Agreement' in baseball. One reason I collect Joe Louis is that his story is so inspiring and so out of character with the rest of American sports history of the prewar period. Plus, he kicked some symbolic Nazi ass...

Isn't Green's debut with the Sox in 1960 not 1950? I thought they were the last to integrate?

*I met him once at a Hollywood memorabilia convention. Interesting guy. His bio (Goal Dust) is a good read.

[ALR-bishop]

I think you are right about Pumpsie, Adam. The WSJ reviewed a book about Yawkey recently. In it there is a discussion about his hold out on signing black players and how that impacted both his reputation and the ongoing success of the Red Sox during his tenure

[herbc]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Great thread, Herb! It would be interesting to see this idea spread across the major sports that were segregated, like Kenny Washington and Woody Strode*, Earl Lloyd and Nat Clifton, etc. Any plans for that? Any signed stuff?

One interesting aspect of boxing collecting for me has been the way that racist attitudes were dealt with in comparison to baseball. There was definitely some bad stuff at the heavyweight division level (Peter Jackson's freeze-out, the reaction to Jack Johnson, Harry Wills' freeze-out) but nothing like the 'Gentlemen's Agreement' in baseball. One reason I collect Joe Louis is that his story is so inspiring and so out of character with the rest of American sports history of the prewar period. Plus, he kicked some symbolic Nazi ass...

Isn't Green's debut with the Sox in 1960 not 1950? I thought they were the last to integrate?

*I met him once at a Hollywood memorabilia convention. Interesting guy. His bio (Goal Dust) is a good read.

Thanks for the heads up Adam. I've corrected Green's date. I am working on the other sports.... a difficult task.

[CobbSpikedMe]

Great thread man. Thanks for bringing more people knowledge of the Negro Leaguers who broke the barrier. The Negro Leagues are another very interesting part of baseball history for anyone who has not delved into it yet. I recommend you spend some time reading about the players and the times.

AndyH

[Harford20]

Amazing set of cards of many fantastic players. Thanks for sharing your collection!!

On a side note, as a life-long Red Sox fan, Yawkey's opposition to signing African-American players, has been, and always will be, one of the worst mistakes in team history (and there have been some doozies--Ruth?).

Dave

[Dewey]

Great post and terrific cards.

Among my favorite photos is this moment when Jackie signs for Montreal. With a stroke of the pen, the first cracks in the wall.