The Impact Black Baseball Players Had on the Major Leagues

The Impact Black Baseball Players Had on the Major Leagues.

There has been a great impact on the Major Leagues before African Americans players. African American players have added speed, athleticism, and style to the game of baseball. Ever since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier on Aril 15, 1947 the game has never been the same.

Since the early days of the Negro Leagues, Blacks and baseball have enjoyed a special and unique romance a romance that burst into full bloom when Robinson signed with Brooklyn Dodgers. (ebony). The Cleveland Indians followed the Dodgers and signed first baseman/ outfielder Larry Doby on July 6, 1947, making him the first Black player in the American League. But even though there was an abundance of topnotch players who could have been signed, the infusion of Black players didn’t proceed as quickly as many had hoped. In fact, it took 12 years for the Major Leagues to fully integrate, and it wasn’t until the Boston Red Sox signed Elijah (Pumpise) Green in July 1959 that each major league team had at least one black. (ebony).

By the time the 50’s rolled around the Negro League had started to suffer financial problems and the fans who had been supportive of the blacks in the Negro leagues could just as simply go watch the African Americans play in the Majors now.

The Major Leagues was thriving like never before and from there on it was official baseball had a new look and blacks had redefined the limits of what could be accomplished in the sport. Blacks brought a whole new approach to the game because of

there speed. (Ebony)

“What Black players did was take Black baseball [Negro League Baseball] to the majors. Before Blacks players arrived, major league baseball was base to base; you got on first base and waited for someone to hit the ball again, In Black baseball, when you got on base, you tried to steal second; they would bunt you over to third and you were in position to score runs without a hit.” (Ebony)

Blacks have contributed more to the game then just strategy. Blacks used there tremendous speed for base stealing. Maury Wills, Lou Brock and Rickey Henderson three of the best base runners of all-time also African American shattered the stolen base record previously set by a white player. Wills of the L.A. Dodgers set the new single season record in 1962 by taking 104 bases, but in 1974 Brock of the Cardinals surpassed that by gaining 118 thefts, and in 1982 the record that still stands today130 stolen bases was set by Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A’s, he later broke Brock’s all-time stolen base record when he swiped his 939th base on May 1, 1991. (Ebony)

Most fans thought it stopped at just base running but oh no the black players carried there speed out with them on defense