Who drew baseball's color line?

Sixty-six years ago today, Jackie Robinson officially broke baseball's color line when he took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson became the first African-American to play Major League Baseball in the modern era. Please take note of the term 'modern era.' Robinson was not the first African-American to play Major League Baseball.

As a matter of fact, there were two before Robinson and they were brothers - literally. Moses Fleetwood "Fleet" Walker played for the Toledo Blue Stockings from 1883-1884. His brother, Weldy, also played for the Blue Stockings in 1884 as a mid-season call up. The Blue Stockings folded at the end of the 1884 season and both men went to the minor leagues.

Enter Cap Anson. Adrian Constantine "Cap" Anson is one of the greatest players in Major League Baseball history. He played first base for three teams in the late 19th century. It has been 115 years since Anson played his last game, but he remains 20th on the all-time hits list with 3,081 and 11th all-time in RBI with 2,076. He was also a lifetime .334 hitter. Anson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.

Unfortunately, Anson was as racist as he was talented. He had at least two documented run-ins with Fleet Walker and his brother, Weldy. On August 10, 1883, Anson refused to take the field when his Chicago White Stockings were set to play Toledo because he did not want to play against an African-American. Walker was the only one on the team.

Another incident occurred in 1884. Anson again refused to play against Toledo. He was beside himself because the Blue Sockings had two African-Americans this time as Weldy Walker had joined the team. Anson was quoted as saying he would not play with "chocolate-covered coons." Anson's intolerance did not stop there. In 1887, he refused to play in an exhibition game against the Newark Little Giants because they had an African-American starting pitcher.

Soon after, Major League Baseball owners entered into a "gentlemen's agreement" to not sign any black players. Make no mistake. The color line was meant to be drawn in black permanent marker - with an emphasis on black. The color line was aimed directly at African-Americans. Native Americans and Hispanics met with comparatively little resistance and several of them played during the time blacks were banned.

Anson's influence was no different than that of current players. Management often acquiesces to the wishes of star players and guys like Cap Anson carried a lot of weight. It's important to remember what happened then so it never happens again. This post is dedicated to Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby and their contemporaries. It is also dedicated to Fleet and Weldy Walker, George Stovey, Jimmy Claxton and Charlie Grant.

These men were either fired from their teams outright for being black or they had to endure masquerading as another race until they were eventually discovered.  Grant even changed his name to Charlie Tokohama. His secret got out when a bunch of his black friends came to watch his tryout with the Baltimore Orioles. What would have happened if men like Anson had used their celebrity and influence to draw people in rather than keep them out?

That's a good question for us today. Everyone has gifts. Are we using those gifts to help others? Are we building people up or tearing them down? Baseball no longer has a color line because of Jackie Robinson and all the people who helped him cross it. Life has many other lines, though. Who are you helping to push across?