Editing Baseball color line (section)

==Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby==

[[File:Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1954.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|[[Jackie Robinson]] in 1954]]

The color line was breached when Rickey, with the support of new commissioner [[Happy Chandler]], signed [[Jackie Robinson]] in October {{baseball year|1945}}, intending him to play for the Dodgers. Chandler mentioned that "If a Black boy can make it on Okinawa and Guadalcanal [in fighting World War II], hell, he can make it in baseball."<ref>{{cite book|title=Branch Rickey: A Biography|author=Murray Polner|date=1983 |page=174|publisher=New American Library |isbn=9780451123862}}</ref> After a year in the minor leagues with the Dodgers' top minor-league affiliate, the [[Montreal Royals]] of the [[International League]], Robinson was called up to the Dodgers in {{mlby|1947}}.  He endured epithets and death threats and got off to a slow start.  However, his athleticism and skill earned him the first ever [[MLB Rookie of the Year Award|Rookie of the Year]] award, which is now named in his honor. In 1947, [[Larry Doby]] signed with Bill Veeck's [[Cleveland Indians]] to become the [[American League]]'s first black player. Doby, a more low-key figure than Robinson, suffered many of the same indignities that Robinson did, albeit with less press coverage. As baseball historian Daniel Okrent wrote, "Robinson had a two year drum roll, Doby just showed up."<ref>{{cite book|title=Larry Doby: The Struggle of the American League's First Black Player|last1=Moore|first1=Joseph Thomas|last2=Dickson|first2=Paul|year=1988|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=New York|isbn=9780486483375|page=x|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S-PEkiSAQMAC }}</ref> Both men were ultimately elected to the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]] on the merits of their play. Willard Brown played briefly in 1947 for the St. Louis Browns and was the first black player to hit a home run in the American League. He too was elected to the Hall of Fame based on his career in the Negro leagues.
[[File:Larry Doby 1953.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.7|[[Larry Doby]] in 1953]]

Prior to the integration of the major leagues, the Brooklyn Dodgers led the integration of the minor leagues. Jackie Robinson and [[Johnny Wright (baseball)|Johnny Wright]] were assigned to Montreal, but also that season [[Don Newcombe]] and [[Roy Campanella]] became members of the [[Nashua Dodgers]] in the class-B [[New England League]]. Nashua was the first minor-league team based in the United States to integrate its roster after {{baseball year|1898}}. Subsequently, that season, the Pawtucket Slaters, the [[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]]' New England League franchise, also integrated its roster, as did Brooklyn's class-C franchise in [[Trois-Rivières|Trois-Rivières, Quebec]]. With one exception, the rest of the minor leagues would slowly integrate as well, including those based in the [[southern United States]]. The [[Carolina League]], for example, integrated in {{baseball year|1951}} when the [[Danville Leafs]] signed [[Percy Miller Jr.]] to their team.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1997/rt9704/970413/04110016.htm|title=As the First Black Player in the Carolina League, Percy Miller Saw a Little Glory and A Lot of Frustration|last=Hudson|first=Mike|newspaper=Roanoke Times|date=April 13, 1997|accessdate=June 2, 2024}}</ref>

The exception was the Class AA [[Southern Association]]. Founded in 1901 and based in the Deep South, it allowed only one black player, [[Nat Peeples]] of the 1954 [[Atlanta Crackers]], a brief appearance in the league.  Peeples went [[hit (baseball)|hitless]] in two [[games played]] and four [[at bats]] on April 9–10, 1954, was demoted one classification to the [[Jacksonville Braves]] of the [[South Atlantic League (1904–1963)|Sally League]], and the SA reverted to white-only status. As a result, its major-league parent clubs were forced to field all-white teams during the 1950s. By the end of the 1950s, the SA also was boycotted by [[Civil Rights Movement|civil rights leaders]]. The Association finally ceased operation after the 1961 season, still a bastion of segregation. Its member teams joined the International, Sally, and [[Texas League|Texas]] leagues, which were all racially integrated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-1967-dixie-series/|title=The 1967 Dixie Series|publisher=Society for American Baseball Research|website=SABR.org|accessdate=June 2, 2024}}</ref>