In 1943, Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the time, had an idea thought to be outrageous by many during that period. He considered signing some black players to make up for the wartime shortage of talent. He narrowed down the list of prospects, searching for the best player to integrate baseball. The likely choices for talent would have been Satchel Paige or Josh Gibson because of their skill level at the time. Rickey, however, wanted not only a star but also a person who could deal with the harassment from the public, some teammates, and the overall opposition. Knowing of Jackie's talent and his hatred for segregation, Rickey set up an interview hoping he could convince Robinson to sign a contract. When Rickey told Robinson why he had been brought to see him, Jackie's reaction was a combination of several emotions. "I was thrilled, scared, and excited. I was incredulous. Most of all, I was speechless." When he did find the ability to speak, his answer was "Yes." Robinson was ready to accept the challenge on April 15th, 1947. .
Jackie Robinson faced a lot of harassment and death threats throughout his career in the Major Leagues. Even though he was one of the best players, he was still not completely accepted by baseball fans or his teammates. When Jackie first came to the Dodgers, he was without a locker, and was told that he had to spend nights at separate hotel rooms from his teammates. On the team bus, Jackie had to sit in the back. Some teammates actually threatened not to sign contracts if they had to play on the same team as Robinson. As a result of some of the players threatening not to sign contracts, this forced the manager of the ball club to take action and stand up for Jackie. One night, the entire Dodgers team was dragged out of their beds for an important team meeting because of a petition the players signed refusing to play with Jackie. The Dodgers manager Leo Durocher said to the team, "I don't care if the guy is yellow or black, or if he has stripes like fuckin' zebras!" The team looked at each other after the speech and agreed to try and accept Robinson as a teammate.
