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History of Segregation in Baseball

 

            In the 18th century, the outbreak of sports occurred and many people found hidden talents that they had especially in within the African American race. Segregation has been a battle that has been going on for many centuries between blacks and whites. Due to segregation, no matter how well a black male played they were not allowed to play on an official team. There are many factors of people who have contributed the desegregation of Baseball, which in 1945 ended when the first black player Jackie Robinson was signed to The Brooklyn Dodgers.
             Baseball is an all-American past time sport but what some don't know is when baseball first was invented in 1839 by a man name Abner Doubleday it was not designed to be segregated. It wasn't always called baseball, the original name was "Townball" the word baseball originated in England five years before the game was invented. It was in the alphabet book next to the letter "B", the first baseball club was organized in 1842 by a man named Alexander Cartwright. In the earlier years of baseball clubs were organized not to allow African Americans to play amongst the white players, in 1890's is when the revolutionary social climate causing club owners to stop allowing blacks the right to play and began forcing them out of the teams.
             In the book, "Conspiracy of Silence: Sportswriters and long campaigns to Desegregate Baseball" written by Chris Lamb, he pointed out the problems that the club owners had with African Americans playing for their teams, for example, he mentioned that African Americans had already participated in major league games, but with segregation coming into play many whites would refuse to spend money to see black players in major league games. African American newspaper writers started to campaign to counteract the "conspiracy of silence" that wouldn't permit skilled African American professional players from playing for organized minor and major league baseball teams.


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