10 best MLB All-Star Game moments of all-time

2. Breaking the Color Barrier

The 1940s were an interesting time for professional baseball in America. The first half of the decade saw the league be affected by players leaving to serve in World War II, while the latter half saw the integration of African-American players into both the American and National Leagues.

Jackie Robinson famously broke the MLB color barrier at the start of the 1947 season, while Larry Doby broke the AL color barrier later on that season as a member of the Cleveland Indians.

It took until 1949 before any African-American players appeared in an All-Star Game when Robinson and Doby were joined by Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe in breaking the All-Star Game’s color barrier.

1949 was a career year for Robinson in which he won NL MVP honors. The 1949 All-Star Game is not often brought up as a monumental event, but it broke an archaic practice and made it clear that professional baseball was about putting the best players on the field, no matter the color of one’s skin.

It still took some time for the entire league to sign African-American players, but the four who played in the 1949 All-Star Game showed the country that the segregated ways of the past were on their way out.

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