“We are the ship, all else is the sea”,
is a quote from Hall of Fame Negro League pitcher Andrew “Rube” Foster. Founder of the Negro National League (NNL) in
1920, Foster saw Negro League baseball at that time as a ship sailing in the
sea of racial segregation and discrimination with the waves keeping African Americans out of
Major League baseball.
On April 15, 1947, seventeen years after
his death, Foster’s ship arrived at its destination as Jackie
Robinson became the first African American since before the turn of the century
to play Major League baseball. Wearing
Number 42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Robinson played first base and batted
second in the team’s home opener at Ebbet’s Field against the Boston Braves.
To
celebrate the day of Robinson’s debut, Major League Baseball has designated
today, “Jackie Robinson Day”. All
players today will wear number “42” on their uniforms.
In
the midst of the events at Major League ballparks today, “Rube” Foster should
be remembered. When Robinson took the
field in a Dodger uniform on April 15, 1947, Foster’s vision became a
reality. He formed the NNL, the first
successful official Negro baseball league, to provide a structured environment
for African American players to apply and develop their talents in hope it
would lead someday to baseball being integrated. Robinson, discovered by the Dodgers in 1945
while he was playing Negro League baseball with the Kansas City Monarchs, was the first
product of Foster’s vision.
From what
Major League pitcher did “Rube” Foster get his nickname?
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