HOW GOOD WERE THEY?
Subscribe Today • Did you enjoy our article? • Read more in American History magazine • Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!! HOW GOOD WERE THEY? by John B. Holway UNTIL 1947, WHEN JACKIE ROBINSON JOINED THE BROOKLYN DODGERS, TALENTED BLACK ATHLETES TOILED IN RELATIVE OBSCURITY IN THE NEGRO LEAGUES DESPITE THE EXCITING CALIBER OF THEIR PLAY. Imagine major-league baseball without such stars as Albert Belle, Ken Griffey, Jr., or “Mo” Vaughn, three of the best players in the game today. Deprived of the tremendous skills that they and many of their African-American colleagues display, this country’s “national pastime” would be a mere shadow of the game loved by so many. Yet, had Jackie Robinson not broken baseball’s “color line” in 1947, these players–simply because of their race–might never have gotten the chance to play. Indeed, for many of the nation’s best ball players before 1947, this unfortunate scenario was the reality. Segregated baseball lasted sixty years, from 1887 when Adria
