Barrier Breaking Moments in Baseball

A barrier can be defined as "any condition that makes it difficult to make progress or to achieve an objective." – [Merriam Webster Dictionary] This presentation looks at the intersection of baseball, social conditions, and culture. The African American experience in the US has long been connected with and played out through the prism of the national pastime. Whether it be the challenge to break through the ranks or continuing to raise the profile of both the players and the game itself, it is impossible to tell the tale of Major League Baseball without including the accounts of those who broke through some of the barriers of the game that once excluded them.