The Importance Of Baseball?

979 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The true meaning of courage essay

Ever since the creation of Major League Baseball (MLB), baseball has always been considered part of America’s pastime. A crucial role in American society was also included in baseball, segregation. The color barrier in baseball was broken on April 15, 1947 by the Brooklyn Dodgers when Jackie Robinson stepped on the field for his first at bat. With such a large part of American society now becoming integrated, many Americans were questioning their emotions, some were inspired by such an act of courage and others were filled with hatred towards a minority. “Professional baseball has become the laboratory to test American principles of equality and fairness.” with this being said, baseball was a way for American’s to test the limits and their social tolerance. With the Brooklyn Dodgers, one of the most popular teams in baseball, integrating the roster of baseball, it created hope for people, that one day they were going to be able to witness the end of segregation in the United States. On January 31, 1919, the world greeted a future baseball legend, …show more content…

Rickey was a general manager, president, and eventually a 1/3 owner of the Dodgers in 1942. Many saw him as an eccentric man, he was known for being a Methodist man. Branch had been keeping an eye out for a “perfect” candidate to integrate baseball. In the movie 42, they show the process of Branch Rickey choosing the perfect candidate that would be used to integrate baseball. They saw Jackie Robinson and they his record and that he knew when to not talk, when to defend himself, and that he had previously played on an integrated team, USC football. Branch felt as if those were the necessary qualities, which the person who would break the baseball color line needed. Many have been left wondering why the Brooklyn Dodgers decided to break the color barrier and what was their main motivation for breaking

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Branch Ricky

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    Branch Rickey was interested in Robinson for two reasons. One, being his talent, of course. Two, Branch Rickey wanted to make a change that will affect the MLB forever. Branch Rickey wanted to assist Jackie Robinson in breaking the color barrier. Jackie was soon tried on the Montreal Royals for the International Leagues. During this period of time, Jackie Robinson of course attracted a huge amount of attention, both good and bad. Of course, the white citizens were furious and continually frustrated with this “disgrace” to baseball. Although the reactions of Caucasians were negative, African Americans were very supportive and encouraged.

    Read More

  • Jackie Robinson's Accomplishments

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    America’s pastime has been complicated in the last couple centuries, and integration has been a really big key in the game of baseball. Like most of America in the 1940’s, baseball was segregated, whites playing in the Major League system and African-Americans playing in the Negro Leagues. There were many factors that made whites and blacks come together including World War II. Integration caused many downs in the time period but as baseball grew and grew it was one of the greatest accomplishments in the history. It was hard to find the right black man do start this, they needed a man with baseball abilities and a man who didn’t need to fight back.

    Read More

  • I Never Had It Made Sparknotes

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    Following the Jim Crow laws of the time, The Monarchs were an all-black league. There was no official law prohibiting black people from playing in major league sports, but the separation was silently and persistently enforced by all owners, presidents, and associates of virtually every major league sports team. Robinson’s luck would change and the U.S.’s view of race would be challenged in 1947, when the president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey, recruited Robinson into the major leagues.

    Read More

  • Negro baseball league

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Negro League was similar to the majors because they had an all-star game, league winners, a minor league structure, and a World Series. However, the conditions of players’ lives in the Negro League were very different than those from the white leagues. The players spent all day, every day to...

    Read More

  • How Baseball was changed by Jackie Robinson

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

    Branch Rickey had been around baseball all his life. He was a player, coach, manager, and team owner for over sixty years. Branch Rickey was nominated into baseball’s hall of fame and on his plaque it mentions his signing of Jackie Robinson. Branch Rickey chose Robinson because he knew he would be able to take all the abuse and keep his cool. Also, he knew Robinson was an outstanding ball player. Branch Rickey has always wanted to integrate baseball since early in his career. Rickey was looking for a strong person who would be able to take the public scrutiny, avoid confrontation, and also a talented ball player. Rickey set his eyes on Robinson because he has had experience in integrating other sports. Robinson attended UCLA and lettered in four other sports.

    Read More

  • Jackie Robinson

    1798 Words  | 4 Pages

    Branch Rickey was the club president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and had the secret goal of signing the Negro Leagues' top players to the team. Although there was no official ban on blacks in organized baseball, previous attempts at signing black ballplayers had been thwarted by league officials and rival clubs in the past, and so Rickey operated undercover. His scouts were told that they were seeking players for a new all-black league Rickey was forming; not even the scouts knew his true objective.

    Read More

  • Jackie Robinson's Impact on Baseball

    1572 Words  | 4 Pages

    For a long time, it was assumed that blacks were not allowed to play in the Major Leagues simply because they had not for so long. When Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the commissioner of baseball at the time, declared that there was no rule preventing integration of the Major Leagues, the idea of an African-American joining the league was realized for the first time by a lot of people. In 1943, Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the time, had an idea though to be outrageous by many during that period. He considered signing some black players to make up for the wartime shortage of talent. He narrowed down the list of prospects, searching for the best player to integrate baseball. The likely choices for talent would have been Satchel Paige or Josh Gibson. Rickey, however, wanted not only a star but a person who could deal with the harassment from the public, some teammates, and the overall opposition. Knowing of Jackie's talent and his hate for segregation, Rickey set up an interview hoping he could convince Robinson to sign a contract. When Rickey told Robinson why he had been brought to see him, Jackie's reaction was a combination of several emotions. "I was thrilled, scared, and excited.

    Read More

  • Dominican Republic Baseball Essay

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    With about 83 players currently to in the MLB, 682 players since 1950, and so far 2 players in the Hall of Fame with much more to get inducted, it’s clear that the Dominican Republic dominates the game of baseball. In the Dominican Republic, baseball is the country’s pastime and official sport. Baseball doesn’t discriminate, regardless of gender, race, and economic status. In my personal view, baseball runs in the blood and embedded in the genetic coding of Dominicans. As a person whose mother and father are Dominican and born and raised in Miami, there seems to be little to nothing that connects me to their culture. Nonetheless, this Miami-born Dominican- American is proud to say that the sport I love the most can connect me to the Dominican

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Jackie Robinson

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jackie Robinson was the first black baseball player to play on the professional level, he was fearless, courageous, willful and strong. He was an advocate for civil rights, as well as a great baseball player. He had to try to keep quiet, and keep to himself while playing, but became a stronger and more extreme advocate over time. A leader on and off the fields dealing with much more than just baseball, he also had to deal with the criticism and racial tensions of a prominently white game. Branch Rickey, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, was a showman who knew how to make money and fame in baseball “he had made a fortune for the cardinals as well as himself, and black talent could argument his bottom line by transforming his struggling dodgers into a power house” (Zeiler, 17). He wanted to make his team great by any means possible. He put his eyes on Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson changed the game and the world, and will always be a huge figure in baseball and civil rights.

    Read More

  • The Negro Leagues:History and Baseball

    2781 Words  | 6 Pages

    "Over the decades, African American teams played 445-recorded games against white teams, winning sixty-one percent of them." (Conrads, pg.8) The Negro Leagues were an alternative baseball group for African American baseball player that were denied the right to play with the white baseball payers in the Major League Baseball Association. In 1920, the first African American League was formed, and that paved the way for numerous African American innovation and movements. Fences, and Jackie Robinson: The Biography, raises consciousness about the baseball players that have been overlooked, and the struggle they had to endure simply because of their color.

    Read More

  • The Historiography of Race and Discrimination in Baseball and Sports

    3242 Words  | 7 Pages

    Jiobu, Robert M., “Racial Inequality in a Public Arena: The Case of Professional Baseball”. Social Forces , Vol. 67, No. 2 (Dec., 1988), pp. 524-534 Oxford University Press

    Read More

  • Field Of Dreams

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    ‘Field of Dreams’ is a diversified script that constantly evolves, but mainly revolves around the game of baseball, ‘the greatest game ever invented’. The game that according to some avid spectators, completely and thoroughly transcends and binds the country to past, present, and future--generation to generation. In this movie this national pastime represents an avenue that finds the connection to the soul of a great audience; somehow insinuating that baseball acts as a means of fulfilling individual spiritual needs. These needs are that of a ‘sense of belonging’, a need to participate in sport, either vicariously as a spectator or directly as a participant. Moreover the desire to engage in distraction and play may be intrinsic to the human psyche. The theme throughout the movie was based on the legendary story of the Chicago White Sox of 1919, where the question was raised on the issue of the team’s “sportsmanship” and the ethical behavior of several teammates during the World Series. This left the image of America’s most idolized team tarnished and lead up to a ban of eight players from the sport; for an ‘unsportsmanlike’ like conduct in the series. The public view of the game up until then was that of perfection, it was clean and straight; but afterwards, the lack of fair play especially coming from such highly ranked players, ended up affecting fans’ enthusiasm for the entire sport. As the movie nears its ending, Robinson evolved on the concept of having utterly devoted fans and as if in a mystified manner drew them in to this already mystical place, just to have them see the most idolized team of ‘the golden age’ play once again.

    Read More

  • The Desegregation of Baseball

    1885 Words  | 4 Pages

    Just as most sports before World War II, baseball was racially segregated. Some African Americans participated in dominantly white leagues but for the most part baseball remained segregated especially between 1900 and 1947. The desegregation of baseball was very important to American culture. The Major Leagues was desegregated before America's public education system. The success of players in the Negro Leagues and the circumstances of World War II helped lead the way towards the signing of Jackie Robinson. However, economic opportunities were the core reasons for Robinson's signing. The desegregation of American baseball was slow, but it still preceded the Civil Rights revolution.

    Read More

  • African American Athlete: Their Role in American Culture

    3732 Words  | 8 Pages

    Lanctot, Neil. 2004. Negro league baseball :The rise and ruin of a black institution. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Read More

  • Innate Whiteness Definition

    55 Words  | 1 Pages

    The innate "whiteness" homogeneous to America identity began to shift toward a more neutral connotation as baseball became a reflection of the changing ethnic composition of America. It was the unionizing power, the affiliative myth of baseball as a team sport, that made racial assimilation in the game the prevailing cultural event it indeed was.

    Read More

More about The Importance Of Baseball?

Open Document