Essay - History and Legacy of the Negro Leagues the History of...

HISTORY AND LEGACY OF THE NEGRO LEAGUES

The history of the Negro League in baseball has recently received new interest after a h*****lf a century of benign neglect. B*****seball fans realize that Blacks played baseball before 1974, ***** course, because they know that Jackie Robinson moved out of the ***** Leagues to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers, thus integrating what most people thought ***** as "major league baseball." The his*****ry of the teams that created Robinson and thousands of o*****r talented athletes deserves m*****e attention.

***** HISTORY ***** BASEBALL

***** began as a "gentleman's game." Men of means joined athletic clubs and formed teams. These clubs played each other for the fun of it. After the Civil War, interest in baseball broadened to all levels of society. It crossed ethnic and color l*****es, which is one reason it was eventually described as "the national pastime." (Riley, 2002). It was still a game ***** amateurs only, with no professional ball ***** created. During this time there were both all-Black ball clubs and integrated *****s. (*****, 2002)

However, these ***** organized into the National Association of Baseball Players, and in 1868 this group voted to exclude any *****tegrated teams. This was the first time segregation was imposed on baseball, but not ***** last. (Riley, 2002)

The following year (1869), pr*****essional teams ***** organized. They were not bound by amateur rules, and again both ***** and integrated teams emerged. (*****, 2002) Presumably the ***** teams overlooked ***** for the sake of getting the best players available. However, these were very troubled times for race relations, and by 1900, no Blacks played on pr*****essional teams. (Riley, 2002)

But Blacks didn't stop playing ball. They didn't even stop ***** professional ball. Some Black ***** played for teams in other countries, such as the "Cuban Giants" (*****, 2002), and in 1920, Black ***** players organized the first professional league of baseball teams. (Riley, *****).

These ***** ***** were every bit as dedicated to ***** ***** as the more famous white players. They ***** respected ***** their communities, ********** well-educated including college, and they played with skill, en*****i*****m, humor and showmanship. In fact, Black baseball became a thriving fin*****ncial enterprise that drew many astute ***** investors. The Negro League ball clubs were an import*****t part of the communities they were a ***** of. (Emerge, 1997).

Bec*****use the games weren't typically covered ***** ***** mainstream press of the day, people outside ***** Black community didn't realize how talented many of these athletes were. Riley (2002) quotes Satchl Paige, one of the most famous of the Black ball players, as saying "*****re were many Satchels, many Joshs..." (referring to Josh Gibson, a*****ther outstanding Black ball player.)Today's his*****rians believe that many of these ***** would have belonged in ma*****stream ***** league ***** well before Jackie ***** made that leap if it had not been for the color barrier. (Conrads, 1999; *****, 2002).

GOLDEN YEARS OF THE NEGRO LEAGUE

Three ********** after Rube Foster founded ***** Negro ***** *****, the Eastern