RetroSeasons
RetroSeasons recaps past sports seasons through stories, photos, videos, and stats from every team, league, and stadium in history. Coverage includes the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, as well as vintage media from defunct teams and leagues.
United States Negro League (USNL)
History 1945-1946 (2 seasons)
Under the guise of starting an all-black league, Dodgers owner Branch Rickey sent scouts all around the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico, looking for the perfect candidate to break the color line. On August 28, 1945, Jackie Robinson secretly met and signed with the Dodgers. To throw off the press and keep his intentions hidden, Rickey got heavily involved in the newest foray into black baseball, the United States League. The league started in 1945 as a way to get back at the owners of the Negro National League teams for throwing him out. Rickey saw the opportunity as a way to convince people that he was interested in cleaning up blackball, not integrating it. In midsummer 1945, Rickey, almost ready with his Robinson plan, pulled out of the league. The league folded after the end of the 1946 season and Jackie Robinson appeared with the MLB Brooklyn Dodgers the following spring.
I sincerely appreciate the research work, and the information being shared. It is important and interesting history.