who did billy's grandfather say was the 1st black player?
...and if so then why is jackie robinson known nas the first????
sharehe was the first black player to actually play and break the color barrier for good. the other player never played.
sharethen who did he say was the first one cuz i cant understand what he says
sharethe convo went something like this: (granted its been awhile since i seen this movie)
billy: "alrite grandpa, who was the first black player in baseball"
grandpa: "ur expecting me to say jackie, but it was actually fleet walker"
billy: "ya"
grandpa: blah blah blah, and on the movie goes
moses fleetwood "fleet" walker was technically the first black player in north american major league baseball. however, he played in the late 1800s and for mostly minor- and alternative- league teams, so nobody except baseball purists really know who he is. one of his teams, the toledo blue stockings (a minor league team at the time), moved up and joined the american association (sorta like the equivalent of the american league now) while he was with them, so he made his debut in an "official mlb game" while playing for them.
he was well known for his encounters with cap anson while anson was with the chicago white stockings. anson was a racist and one of the leading figures in trying to ban black players from baseball. numerous times, he refused to play in the same games that walker was playing in, and because of the amount of infleunce anson had on the game at the time, walker was often benched or intentionally suspended to keep him from playing in games. a common legend is that one time, the manager of the blue stockings intentionally played walker against the white stockins while the blues were losing, even after being ordered to keep him on the bench. he did it because he knew anson would never stand for playing in the same game, and the manager was expecting anson to order a forfeit (and thus the blue stockings would win).
theres a lot about him, but im not gonna type more than i already have. look it up yourself if u want, since u know the name now.
I know this thread hasn't been bumped in a while but I would like to add something. Around 10 or 11 years ago, it was discovered that there may have been another black player before Walker. His name was William Edward White. He only played one game but it was 5 years before Walker made his debut. Also, if the research is correct, he would also be the only former slave to play as well.
share