For decades, Major League Baseball had an unwritten rule: no Black players allowed. African American athletes played in separate leagues called the Negro Leagues. The teams were talented, but they received less money and attention. Branch Rickey, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, decided this was wrong. He wanted to integrate baseball, but he needed the right person. Rickey chose Jackie Robinson. Jackie was a great athlete, but Rickey also chose him because of his character. Rickey told Jackie that fans would insult him. Players would try to hurt him. Jackie would have to promise never to fight back. Jackie agreed. On April 15, 1947, Jackie walked onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. He became the first Black player in the major leagues in over sixty years. That first season was brutal. Opponents threw baseballs at his head. Fans shouted hateful things. Some of his own teammates refused to sit with him. But Jackie kept playing. He batted .297 and stole twenty-nine bases. He won the first-ever Rookie of the Year award. His courage changed more than baseball. It showed the country that segregation was wrong and that talent knows no color.