Homestead Grays - varsity style jacket

Homestead Grays varsity style jacket. This unique varsity-style jacket features a quality wool body and high quality PU leather sleeves. It's a great way to pay respect and homage to the great players and teams of the Negro Baseball Leagues. Order today, it’s the ultimate gift for any Negro League Baseball fan.

• 50% Wool, 50% Polyester
• Sleeves: PU leather
• Patches embroidered on sleeve, front, & back
• Front snap closure
• Side slip pockets
• Rib-knitted collar, cuff, and hem

Baseball fans know the color line in organized baseball was broken in 1945 when Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. However, most baseball fans are not aware of the culture and history which produced Jackie Robinson. The Negro Baseball Leagues were created in 1920 because Blacks were not allowed to play in the Major Leagues. The Negro Leagues instantly thrived because they had outstanding players and loyal fans.  The league expanded and eventually included five different leagues; the Eastern Colored, American Negro, East-West, Negro Southern and Negro American leagues.

Negro Leagues Baseball provided everything and in some cases, more than what was offered by Major League Baseball. They had a World Series, East-West All-Star games, bitter rivalries, packed stadiums, great tales of courage, and most of all very talented players. By 1960, after Major League Baseball started allowing Blacks to play, the Negro Leagues started to disband and it signaled the end of a great era Black owned businesses and entrepreneurship.