"Far from the diamonds of America, a little-known chapter of the journey toward integrating baseball was taking place in war-ravaged Europe just over 80 years ago. It took place at a tournament held to entertain soldiers in the months after the end of the second world war. The team who won the GI World Series in September 1945 were unlike any of the other competitors: they had an integrated roster, including two stars from the Negro Leagues: Willard Brown and Leon Day."
"They are two legendary players who have not gotten their just due, says Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. People just don't know about the team that won a GI championship. Jackie Robinson who also served in uniform during the second world war is justly hailed for breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball, with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. But less than two years earlier, in a dramatic setting, Brown and Day had established their own piece of history."
In September 1945, U.S. military teams staged a GI World Series in Allied-controlled Europe. The winning team fielded an integrated roster that included Negro Leagues stars Willard Brown and Leon Day. Several games took place in a Nuremberg stadium where Adolf Hitler had once held antisemitic rallies, creating powerful symbolism as the national pastime of a leading democracy was played in a site of vitriolic propaganda. Jackie Robinson later broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947, but Brown and Day had already established a precedent in uniform overseas. Professional players in the military were permitted integrated play that domestic teams lacked. Teams were drawn from multiple service branches.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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