5 1 CHAPTER The Newark Little Giants took the field for an exhibition game in 1887 against the Chicago White Stockings Set to start for the Giants was George Stovey a black pitcher White Stockings player-manager Adrian Cap Anson reacted angrily What’s he doing here Anson implied Get him off the field Anson said his team would not play against any team with black players Scenes such as those were common at that time The United States was not very united at all It was deeply divided by race In many places particularly in the South blacks faced discrimination of every kind Signs outside hotels restaurants Baseball’s Color Barrier Adrian Cap Anson was influential in forcing black players out of organized baseball during the late 1800s
6 theaters and pools read Whites only That same discrimination extended to baseball By 1900 black players were not allowed in organized baseball That included major league teams and the minor league teams associated with them No official rule prohibited black players But team owners would not hire them This became known as baseball’s color barrier or color line With organized baseball off-limits top black players joined all-black teams These teams played in what came to be known as the Negro Leagues Most white fans paid no attention to the Negro Leagues But by the 1940s that began to change Sometimes Negro Leagues teams played offseason exhibition games against major leaguers The Negro Leagues teams often won In some cities Negro Leagues teams rented major league stadiums and played there White reporters took notice of their skills They began to write about how good the best Negro Leagues players were MOSES FLEETWOOD WALKER On May 1 1884 Moses Fleetwood Walker played catcher for Toledo Ohio in the major league American Association He is widely credited with being the first black major leaguer A few black players followed him However baseball’s color line was drawn soon after By the late 1800s there were no blacks in organized baseball
7 But Major League Baseball MLB refused to open its doors to black players MLB’s commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was strongly opposed to black players in the major leagues He showed this belief when the Pittsburgh Pirates tried to sign catcher Josh Gibson Gibson was a star in the Negro Leagues He wowed fans with towering home runs Many people compared him with Babe Ruth In 1943 the Pirates wanted to sign Gibson But Landis would not allow it The colored ballplayers have their own league Landis said Let them stay in their own league Members of the Negro Leagues Chicago Giants look out of the dugout in 1942
