Editing Monte Irvin (section)

==Early life==
Irvin was born February 25, 1919,<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|title = Monte Irvin, Hall of Fame baseball star who began in Negro leagues, dies at 96|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/monte-irvin-hall-of-fame-baseball-star-who-began-in-negro-leagues-dies-at-96/2016/01/12/f7a16e44-b968-11e5-b682-4bb4dd403c7d_story.html|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = 2016-01-12|access-date = 2016-01-13|issn = 0190-8286|language = en-US|first = Matt|last = Schudel}}</ref> in [[Haleburg, Alabama]], the eighth of 13 children, and brother of fellow Negro leaguer [[Cal Irvin]]. As a child, he moved with his family to [[Orange, New Jersey]]. At [[Orange High School (New Jersey)|Orange High School]], he starred in four sports, earning a total of 16 [[varsity letter]]s and setting a state record in the [[javelin throw]].<ref>[[Jerry Izenberg|Izenberg, Jerry]]. [https://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/izenbergcol/2014/02/izenberg_happy_95th_birthday_m.html "Happy 95th birthday Monte Irvin"], ''[[The Star-Ledger]]'', February 25, 2014, updated January 17, 2019. Accessed January 24, 2022. "He lives in Houston now, but there is a piece of him that never left New Jersey, where as a teenage superstar at Orange High School he won 16 varsity letters in four years"</ref> Irvin played baseball for the Orange Triangles, the local semiprofessional team, and he credited its coach with giving him an activity that helped him to stay out of trouble. He was offered a football scholarship to the [[University of Michigan]], but he had to turn it down because he did not have enough money to move to Ann Arbor.<ref name=Jackie>{{cite book|last1=Dorinson|first1=Joseph|last2=Warmund|first2=Joram|title=Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports, and the American Dream|date=1998|publisher=[[M. E. Sharpe]]|isbn=0765633388|page=[https://archive.org/details/jackierobinsonra00dori/page/33 33]|url=https://archive.org/details/jackierobinsonra00dori|url-access=registration|access-date=November 28, 2014}}</ref>

Irvin attended [[Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)|Lincoln University]] and was a star football player. However, he had disagreements with his coach and he found that he could not remain on his athletic scholarship and pursue pre-dentistry studies. As his frustration mounted, Irvin began to be recruited by Negro league baseball teams.<ref name=Jackie/>