Below is a list of the first Black players in Major League Baseball in chronological order.
The baseball color line excluded players of Black African descent from Major League Baseball and its affiliated Minor Leagues until 1947 (with a few notable exceptions in the 19th century before the line was firmly established).
Before 1885 at least three African-American men played in the major leagues: William Edward White, whose light skin color allowed him pass as white, played one game for the Providence Grays in 1879; Moses Fleetwood Walker, an openly Black man who played for the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association between May 1 and September 4, 1884; and his brother, Weldy Walker, who played five games with the Toledo club between July 15 and August 6, 1884. Baseball officials essentially drew the color line against Fleetwood Walker. African-Americans had been excluded from major league baseball since 1884 and from white professional minor league teams since 1889. Following the 1891 season, the Ansonia Cuban Giants, a team composed of African-American players, were expelled from the Connecticut State League, the last white minor league to have a Black team.
The Brooklyn Dodgers broke the 63-year color line when they started future Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson at first base on Opening Day, April 15, 1947. The Boston Red Sox were the last team to break the line, when they inserted Pumpsie Green as an eighth-inning pinch runner in a July 21, 1959 game at Chicago.
| Player | Team | League | First game | Last game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Edward White | Providence Grays | NL | June 21, 1879 | June 21, 1879 |
| Moses Fleetwood Walker | Toledo Blue Stockings | AA | May 1, 1884 | September 4, 1884 |
| Weldy Walker | Toledo Blue Stockings | AA | July 15, 1884 | August 6, 1884 |
| † | Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame |
Below is a list of the first 20 Black players in Major League Baseball since Moses Fleetwood Walker's last major league appearance.
| Player | Team | League | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jackie Robinson † | Brooklyn Dodgers | NL | April 15, 1947 |
| Larry Doby † | Cleveland Indians | AL | July 5, 1947 |
| Hank Thompson | St. Louis Browns | AL | July 17, 1947 |
| Willard Brown † | St. Louis Browns | AL | July 19, 1947 |
| Dan Bankhead | Brooklyn Dodgers | NL | August 26, 1947 |
| Roy Campanella † | Brooklyn Dodgers | NL | April 20, 1948 |
| Satchel Paige † | Cleveland Indians | AL | July 9, 1948 |
| Minnie Miñoso † | Cleveland Indians | AL | April 19, 1949 |
| Don Newcombe | Brooklyn Dodgers | NL | May 20, 1949 |
| Monte Irvin † | New York Giants | NL | July 8, 1949 |
| Luke Easter | Cleveland Indians | AL | August 11, 1949 |
| Sam Jethroe | Boston Braves | NL | April 18, 1950 |
| Luis Márquez | Boston Braves | NL | April 18, 1951 |
| Ray Noble | New York Giants | NL | |
| Artie Wilson | New York Giants | NL | |
| Harry Simpson | Cleveland Indians | AL | April 21, 1951 |
| Willie Mays † | New York Giants | NL | May 25, 1951 |
| Sam Hairston | Chicago White Sox | AL | July 21, 1951 |
| Bob Boyd | Chicago White Sox | AL | September 8, 1951 |
| Sam Jones | Cleveland Indians | AL | September 22, 1951 |
| Team | League | Date [2] | Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Dodgers | NL | April 15, 1947 | Jackie Robinson † |
| Cleveland Indians | AL | July 5, 1947 | Larry Doby † |
| St. Louis Browns | AL | July 17, 1947 | Hank Thompson |
| New York Giants | NL | July 8, 1949‡ | Hank Thompson |
| Monte Irvin † | |||
| Boston Braves | NL | April 18, 1950 | Sam Jethroe |
| Chicago White Sox | AL | May 1, 1951 | Minnie Miñoso † |
| Philadelphia Athletics | AL | September 13, 1953 | Bob Trice |
| Chicago Cubs | NL | September 17, 1953 | Ernie Banks † |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | NL | April 13, 1954 | Curt Roberts * |
| St. Louis Cardinals | NL | April 13, 1954 | Tom Alston |
| Cincinnati Reds | NL | April 17, 1954 | Nino Escalera |
| Chuck Harmon [3] | |||
| Washington Senators | AL | September 6, 1954 | Carlos Paula |
| New York Yankees | AL | April 14, 1955 | Elston Howard |
| Philadelphia Phillies | NL | April 22, 1957 | John Kennedy |
| Detroit Tigers | AL | June 6, 1958 | Ozzie Virgil Sr. [4] |
| Boston Red Sox | AL | July 21, 1959 | Pumpsie Green |
* Major League Baseball recognizes Curt Roberts as the Pirates' first Black player; however, Carlos Bernier of Puerto Rico, also a Black man, debuted on April 22, 1953. [5]
‡ Thompson and Irvin broke in with the Giants during the same game on July 8, 1949. Thompson was the starting third baseman, and Irvin pinch hit in the eighth. [1]
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. The Dodgers signing Robinson heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in 1920 that are sometimes termed "Negro Major Leagues".
Roy Campanella, nicknamed "Campy", was an American professional baseball player, primarily as a catcher. The Philadelphia native played in the Negro leagues and Mexican League for nine years before entering the minor leagues in 1946. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 1948 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, for whom he played until 1957. His playing career ended when he was paralyzed in an automobile accident in January 1958. He is considered one of the greatest catchers in the history of the game.
Monford Merrill "Monte" Irvin was an American left fielder and right fielder in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB) who played with the Newark Eagles, New York Giants (1949–1955) and Chicago Cubs (1956). He grew up in New Jersey and was a standout football player at Lincoln University. Irvin left Lincoln to spend several seasons in Negro league baseball. His career was interrupted by military service from 1943 to 1945.
Henry Curtis Thompson was an American player in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball who played primarily as a third baseman. A left-handed batter, he played with the Dallas Green Monarchs (1941), Kansas City Monarchs, St. Louis Browns (1947) and New York Giants (1949–56).
The color line, also known as the color barrier, in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Major League Baseball and its affiliated Minor Leagues until 1947. Racial segregation in professional baseball was sometimes called a gentlemen's agreement, meaning a tacit understanding, as there was no written policy at the highest level of organized baseball, the major leagues. A high minor league's vote in 1887 against allowing new contracts with black players within its league sent a powerful signal that eventually led to the disappearance of blacks from the sport's other minor leagues later that century, including the low minors. After the line was in virtually full effect in the early 20th century, many black baseball clubs were established, especially during the 1920s to 1940s when there were several Negro leagues. During this period, American Indians and native Hawaiians, e.g. Prince Oana, were able to play in the Major Leagues. The color line was broken for good when Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization for the 1946 season. In 1947, both Robinson in the National League and Larry Doby with the American League's Cleveland Indians appeared in games for their teams.
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Moses Fleetwood Walker was an American professional baseball catcher who, historically, was credited with being the first black man to play in Major League Baseball (MLB). A native of Mount Pleasant, Ohio, and a star athlete at Oberlin College as well as the University of Michigan, Walker played for semi-professional and minor league baseball clubs before joining the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association (AA) for the 1884 season.
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Weldy Wilberforce Walker, sometimes known as Welday Walker and W. W. Walker, was an American baseball player. In 1884, he became the third African American to play Major League Baseball.
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Jackie Robinson Day is a traditional event which occurs annually on April 15 in Major League Baseball (MLB), commemorating and honoring the day Jackie Robinson made his major league debut. Celebrated at MLB ballparks, on that one day, all players, coaches, and managers on both teams, and the umpires, wear Robinson's uniform number, 42. April 15 was Opening Day in 1947, Robinson's first season in the major leagues.
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