A landmark event of the African-American civil rights movement took place on April 15, 1947. This event was not a court ruling, or a protest march, or a speech. It was a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves. When the Dodgers trotted out of the dugout at Ebbets Field and assumed their defensive positions to start the game, the rookie first baseman wearing number 42Jackie Robinsonbecame the first black player in Major League Baseball. Defining Moments: Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball provides a comprehensive account of Robinsons life and career, with a detailed and authoritative overview of the events surrounding the shattering of Major League Baseballs longstanding color barrier. It also discusses Robinsons life after baseballespecially his influential position in the African-American civil rights movementand explores his enduring legacy as a racial pioneer in the game of baseball and in American society.