Nick HolmMrs. YoungEnglish April 114, 2014Baseballs Color LinePee Wee Reese talks to Jackie Robinson before a game: "Maybe one day we'll all wear number 42, so they won't be able to tell us apart." Baseball has always been a white man's sport from the moment it was created. People didn't think that people of color had the right to play just because of the color of their skin. Everything changed when the Brooklyn Dodgers made a big gamble that changed the heart of the nation and created equality for all. Baseball has changed tremendously over the past century; the biggest change came from the civil rights movement, which also made the nation more united. Jackie Robinson not only became the first African-American baseball player, but also started the movement for the first African-American president and for equal rights (Bilyeu). Mr. Robinson would later sign with the Brooklyn Dodgers on October 23, 1945, making him the first Negro professional baseball player (Young). Baseball wasn't quite ready for a black player, so Jackie played one year for the Montreal Dodgers minor league team (Young). There he would lead the International League in targeting all white athletes (Bilyeu). Just before the start of the 1947 season Robinson had received a phone call on April 10 telling him he would be on the Dodgers next season (Bilyeu). On April 15, 1947 he had made his major league debut and began his journey to silence the critics and show everyone that skin color doesn't matter, but if you can play you can play (Bilyeu).With everything he had faced in his childhood ; thus, it prepared him for the changes he would make to the Major Leagues when he entered it years later, Jackie s... middle of the paper... where they wanted to be. Magic said in an interview: "I take very seriously the honor of being a minority owner in an organization where Jackie Robinson played." By this he meant that if it wasn't for Robinson who knows where he would be today and that he would greatly appreciate the scrutiny and racism that Robinson had to overcome in his career (Bilyeu). Baseball has undergone many changes since it began, but none have been as great as the integration of African Americans; this changed the attitude of the nation and made everyone unite. Thanks to the Brooklyn Dodgers bringing in a player who stood up so well against racism and scrutiny, the integration worked. Now everyone wants to be like Jackie and make a huge impact in their life like he did. Jackie said: “A life is not important except for the impact it has on other lives.”