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Topnotchsy
Featured Contributor, The best players in history?
- Aug 7, 2008
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In a post a couple of days ago I shared a picture of a new pickup, a picture of the 1946 Nashua Dodgers featuring Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe. While the Nashua Dodgers had 2 African American players on their roster, the Montreal Royals were of course the Minor League team that Jackie Robinson played for. Both location (Montreal and Nashua, NH) were chosen for their French Canadian populations, a group that has historically not been bigoted.
It is interesting to note that Branch Rickey's motivation was not exclusively altruistic. Rickey believed that if he could lead the charge toward integration he would be able to gain a monopoly on Black players and thereby improve his team. Remember that the Dodgers; "Dem Bums" were notoriously bad and had never won a championship at this point. To support the position that adding Black players would improve the teams, both the Montreal Royals and Nashua Dodgers won the the World Series in their respective leagues in 1946....
Signed items from Minor League teams in that era are of course pretty rare. This item has basically been #1 on my wantlist for months.
Link to Campanella and Newcombe picture:
http://www.freedomcardboard.com/forum/showthread.php/151948-Preintegration-pickup
It is interesting to note that Branch Rickey's motivation was not exclusively altruistic. Rickey believed that if he could lead the charge toward integration he would be able to gain a monopoly on Black players and thereby improve his team. Remember that the Dodgers; "Dem Bums" were notoriously bad and had never won a championship at this point. To support the position that adding Black players would improve the teams, both the Montreal Royals and Nashua Dodgers won the the World Series in their respective leagues in 1946....
Signed items from Minor League teams in that era are of course pretty rare. This item has basically been #1 on my wantlist for months.
Link to Campanella and Newcombe picture:
http://www.freedomcardboard.com/forum/showthread.php/151948-Preintegration-pickup
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Robinson 1946 Montreal Royals Baseball Royals baseball 1.jpg522.9 KB · Views: 120
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Robinson 1946 Montreal Royals Baseball Royals baseball 6.jpg693 KB · Views: 120
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