The New York Yankees were a little bit late to the integration party.
As a lifelong fan of the team, I feel comfortable saying there was no excuse for why. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier for the rival Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 and led them to the World Series, but the Yankees defeated them in a tough seven-game series.
Even so, the Yankees caught up a few years later when they signed their first Black player from the Kansas City Monarchs in 1950. Surely, they would soon join baseball in embracing progress, right?
Wrong.