Jackie Robinson crossed the threshold into white professional baseball at that meeting signing a minor league contract with the Dodgers' farm club, the Montreal Royals. .
Sam Lacy, the AFRO-American's sports editor from 1944 through the present, confirms that while Jackie Robinson was not the most talented black player in the Negro Leagues, he was the best choice for integrating the Major Leagues. Like Brach Rickey, Mr. Lacy believed that Jackie's early experiences playing and working with whites at UCLA and in the Army gave him an understanding many other black players did not have, as most had only lived and played in segregated arenas. Those early experiences showed Jackie that in America, race was the issue that defined the opportunities available to blacks. From his earliest experiences with his family in Pasadena, California, he quickly learned that he had to actively respond to racist ignorance. But, from his first game with the Montreal Royals in April 1946, Jackie was forced to passively respond to racist taunts and threats. .
The following season Jackie Robinson was promoted to the Brooklyn Dodgers. He entered the history books on April 15 as the Dodgers opened the 1947 season against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field. In his first season he hit for a .296 average and was selected Rookie of the Year. Also in that year, he played all of his 151 games at first base, in part because Branch Rickey feared that Jackie Robinson would be too vulnerable to malicious assaults (for example, spiking) if he played second base. In 1948, Robinson moved to second base and, at that position, he established himself as a premier player. In 1949, Jackie Robinson won the batting title with an outstanding .346 batting average. He was voted the league's Most Valuable Player and led the Dodgers to the World Series. In 1962, Jackie Robinson was voted to the Baseball's Hall of Fame at Cooperstown.
