Tuesday, October 23, 1945. Signing Robinson.

It was announced that Jackie Robinson had signed with the Kansas City Royals, although he was not to play under the arrangement for a full season, going to the Montreal Royals for the 1946 season.

Robinson in 1946 as a Montreal Royal.

Robinson was a great man, and is justly celebrated, but there's a fair number of myths regarding his pioneering role in integrated baseball.  He was not, for one thing, the first black player in the major leagues.  That honor would inaccurately go to Moses Fleetwood Walker, although he had played in the 19th Century, and is inaccurate itself as William Edward White had played a single major league game prior to that.  White didn't reveal  his race, and therefore is often not credited, but Walker's brother Weldy Walker did, and he also played major league baseball

Moses Fleetwood Walker.

So, in reality, Robinson was the fourth African American ball player known to have played in the majors and the third to acknowledge his racial identify.

Weldy Walker.

1883 letter to editor by Weldy Walker.

Additionally Robinson was not the only black player in the majors in 1947, Larry Doby appeared in the American League two months later, something that has also been planned as far back as 1945.  His appearance, however, had not been accompanied by advance press, as Branch Rickey had done with Robinson.  It just happened.

A surprising part of the story is that Robinson being picked upset a fair number of players in the Negro Leagues who well knew that their talents were superior to Robinson's.  It was Robinson's character, of course, that had lead Ricky to pick him.

If the entire story is pieced together, it makes for an interesting focus on racism in the United States following the Civil War and before the Civil Rights Era.  Racism was intense the entire time, but it can be argued it actually got worse towards the end of the 19th Century.  The Navy had been integrated going into the Spanish American War but forces were at work to end that, and soon did.  Breaking the color barrier was hard for athletes in team sports, but was possible in the 19th Century up until the late 1880s when it became much harder, with it being harder in baseball, where the color barrier was absolute, as opposed to football, where a few men crossed it here and there before the 1946 groundbreaking season.  

World War Two had a lot to do with the color barrier fracturing.

Considerations were being made about the post war military, including a proposal to have a single service (something the Canadians in fact did).  Also proposed was something akin to the pre war German system, a small professional army with a large conscript reserve.

Neither proposal found favor at the time.

Of course, in just a couple of years conscription would in fact be revived, and would remain a feature of American life until 1973.  Watching current events, however, a good argument can be made for just what Truman had proposed here, a very small professional Army with a conscript reserve.  Conscripts are a lot less likely to fire on their friends and neighbors than professionals or volunteers are.

Last edition:

Monday, October 22, 1945. The Handan Campaign (邯郸战役) launched.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Chinese Civil War, Egypt, It was because of World War Two, Nationalist Chinese Army, People's Liberation Army, The Handan Campaign (邯郸战役), United Nations, Winston Churchill, World War Two