There could be room for everybody

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Email

And, of course, there were also the so-called Negro leagues, the Negro American League and the Negro National League, which had never been more popular ... and yet they were on the verge of collapse. Within just a few years, the surviving "leagues" were merely loose conglomerations of struggling teams that survived, if they survived at all, by barnstorming around the country and playing wherever they could get a game.

What happened? Jackie Robinson happened, finally. Once Robinson and other players from the Negro leagues were allowed to play in the previously inaccessible major leagues, most black baseball fans shifted their allegiance. And understandably so. They wanted to watch the best players, and finally, nearly all of the best players were in the American and National Leagues.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Email
• Subscribe