MLB history: The 10 pioneers who integrated baseball

10 pioneers left an indelible mark on MLB history; just 1 remains

Ten Men. Ten baseball players. Individually they were great. Collectively they changed the face of the National Pastime, rewrote MLB history … and by extension, of America itself.

Now, with the death Friday of Hank Aaron, only one remains to tell their tale.

In the first decade following World War II, these Ten men —  Blacks and Black Latinos — ensured with their talent that the long-delayed integration of American professional sport would succeed.

Flowing from the vestigial Negro Leagues to the American and National leagues between 1947-56, they emphatically answered in the affirmative the lingering question of whether athletic ability was unconscious of skin color.

Without their exceptional demonstration of ability, it’s possible that integration – both in baseball and in life generally – might have been delayed. Today, nine of the Ten Men are immortalized in Cooperstown.

In chronological order the Ten Men — all pioneers — were Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby, Roy Campanella, Minnie Minoso, Monte Irvin, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, and Frank Robinson.

Jackie Robinson, of course, made the initial breakthrough. Appearing in the Brooklyn Dodgers lineup on opening day of the 1947 season, he had come out of World War II to put in one season with the Kansas City Monarchs pf the Negro American League in 1945.

With the Monarchs, Robinson batted .365/.426/.577 in 116 plate appearances, according to Seamheads.com, a site acknowledged by MLB as having the most complete database of Negro Leagues statistics.

But those 116 were sufficient to persuade Dodger general manager Branch Rickey of Robinson’s ability. Once established in Brooklyn, Robinson was an immediate sensation.

Piling up eight hits in his first five, sometimes turbulent, games, he survived an occasionally bitter reaction to his presence on the field from both opponents and fans to help the Dodgers win the National League pennant.

For his .297 average and league-leading 29 steals, Robinson received the inaugural Rookie Of The Year award.