RickD
02-11-2011, 12:05 PM
The All-Star game. Over the years it has been everything from a “fun” game for fans to a political firestorm based on it’s potential location. Legends past their prime were given one more day in the sun and the outcome has determined who has home field advantage in the World Series.
There was a period of time where there were actually 2 All-Star games every year. From 1959-1962 the boys of summer did double duty.
One game in particular was more noteworthy for what happened off the field than on it.
The game was held on July 31, 1961. it was the second game that year with the first being held 20 days prior. This game was the first in All-Star history to end in a tie after rain fell without ceasing. 31,000 fans got soaked. Yet this event is just a side note.
Pealing back the curtains a bit we must remember that this was 1961. Baseball had been integrated for a few years. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. He did not, however, break the barrier for people of color.
Black players were still routinely and regularly discriminated against on and off the field. Some teams were slower to integrate than others and had “unofficial” quotas when it came to the number of black players on a team. Players would travel on the team bus together but only white players were allowed in certain restaurants as the black players were made to wait inside the bus for someone to bring them food.
Black players had to sleep in rundown neighborhoods, staying in houses or black owned motels. They could not visit their coach in a white hotel without permission.
The indignities piled up but were at their worst in Spring Training. Jim Crow laws were more heavily enforced in the south and this was where racism and baseball continued to butt heads.
While the All-Star game was a rained out tie, it did accomplish one feat…it brought together player reps from across the league and it was at this meeting of player reps that a resolution was passed calling on owners to deal with the problem and demanding an end to Spring Training Segregation.
Momentum was shifting nation wide and owners and managers both had been making attempts to deal with this issue. From 61-1964 the major leagues were able to see an end to baseball segregation. Some accomplished this by moving to Arizona, by purchasing their own facilities and by pressuring communities to make the change. History wasn’t made this day in 1961, but the meeting WAS of historic significance in the battle for baseball de-segregation.
There was a period of time where there were actually 2 All-Star games every year. From 1959-1962 the boys of summer did double duty.
One game in particular was more noteworthy for what happened off the field than on it.
The game was held on July 31, 1961. it was the second game that year with the first being held 20 days prior. This game was the first in All-Star history to end in a tie after rain fell without ceasing. 31,000 fans got soaked. Yet this event is just a side note.
Pealing back the curtains a bit we must remember that this was 1961. Baseball had been integrated for a few years. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. He did not, however, break the barrier for people of color.
Black players were still routinely and regularly discriminated against on and off the field. Some teams were slower to integrate than others and had “unofficial” quotas when it came to the number of black players on a team. Players would travel on the team bus together but only white players were allowed in certain restaurants as the black players were made to wait inside the bus for someone to bring them food.
Black players had to sleep in rundown neighborhoods, staying in houses or black owned motels. They could not visit their coach in a white hotel without permission.
The indignities piled up but were at their worst in Spring Training. Jim Crow laws were more heavily enforced in the south and this was where racism and baseball continued to butt heads.
While the All-Star game was a rained out tie, it did accomplish one feat…it brought together player reps from across the league and it was at this meeting of player reps that a resolution was passed calling on owners to deal with the problem and demanding an end to Spring Training Segregation.
Momentum was shifting nation wide and owners and managers both had been making attempts to deal with this issue. From 61-1964 the major leagues were able to see an end to baseball segregation. Some accomplished this by moving to Arizona, by purchasing their own facilities and by pressuring communities to make the change. History wasn’t made this day in 1961, but the meeting WAS of historic significance in the battle for baseball de-segregation.