Montreal Royals

A while back I had posted a column on Dan Bankhead, the first African-American pitcher in MLB. I knew the answer to that trivia question. To this one I did not know the answer. Namely, who was the first Puerto Rican player to play at the MLB level with the Dodgers? He was not the first to play MLB coming in second but was the first position player from Puerto

In 1942 Branch Rickey joined the Dodgers as the team’s president and general manager. He quietly and in a very determined way began his quest to bring black players to the team. He was well aware of the challenges that lay ahead trying to integrate the first segment of American society – baseball. He knew there would be resistance in the Commissioner’s Office, from other team owners, the players themselves