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Alexander Cartwright published a set of baseball rules for the Knickerbocker Club of New York, and his rules were widely adopted.
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Th Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first openly-salaried team and are thus considered the first professional team.
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The first professional baseball league, the National Association of Professional Baseball Players, was established.
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The first major league, the National League, was formed.
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In the 1880s, all black professional teams started forming.
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One of the few black players on an integrated professional league team was Moses Fleetwood "Fleet" Walker, a catcher for the Toledo Blue Stockings. The Chicago White Stockings, led by star player Adrian "Cap" Anson, refused to take the field against Blue Stockings beause of Walker's presense .
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Blue Stockings join the American Association.
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Walker became the first African-American major leaguer.
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The International League banned future contracts with black players, although it allowed black players already under contract to stay on teams,
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Most professional black players were limited to playing in exhibition games on "colored' teams on the barnstorming circuit.
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John McGraw, manager of the Baltimore Orioles, attempted to get black second baseman Charlie Grant into the game by calling him a Cherokee named Tokohama.
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The Negro American Leagues started in 1937 and later absorbed the Negro National Leagues Team.
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Ricky joined the Dodgers and quietly began plans to bring black players to the team.
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Drafted into the army, and served at bases in Kansas and Texas.
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Left the army.
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Branch Ricky and Jackie Robinson meet at the Brooklyn Dodgers office.
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Jackie Robinson officially signed the contract to play with the Dodgers.
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Jackie Robinson joined the Kansas City Monarchs (Negro American League) and played with such baseball legends as Satchel Paige and Martin Dihigo.
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The Jim Crow policies of bseball changed forever when Branch Rickey (Brooklyn Dodger's general manager) and Jackie Robinson of the Negro League's Kansas City Monarchs agreed to a contract that would bring Robinson into the major leagues in 1947.
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Jackie Robinson officially broke the color line.
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The major league teams started integrating and the Negro League teams lost many of their best players.
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Not until 1948 did a presidential order desegregate the armed forces.
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Supreme Court forbids segregated public schools.
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Negro Leagues completely folded.