The Negro Leagues and the AAGPBL
Jackie Robinson's contract with the Dodgers in 1945 marked the beginning of a new era for blacks and for Major League baseball, yet the signing also signaled the first step in the decline of the Negro leagues. Formed in the early 1900s when they were forced off of teams with white players, 1960 was the last time any Negro league was active. Interest had steadily dropped since Robinson broke into the majors as the best players, and therefore the fans, turned their heads toward mainstream baseball, now that its doors were open to everyone. It was, ironically, a major milestone in black history that led to the dissolution of a long- standing black organization (Marshall 323).
Negro League
Baseball
Black Baseball
Shadowball
Negro Leagues
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The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was established in 1943 by Phil Wrigley. The league was one attempt by entrepreneurs to capitalize on the lack of star power in the major leagues, as many of its players were serving in the military. In 1948 the AAGPBL drew over 900,000 paying fans to its games, its most prosperous year. However, television and other leisurely diversions of the 1950s began to drain interest from the AAGPBL, and in 1954 the league was discontinued.
