As it first flowed from its origin, the river of baseball history diverged at one point and formed a separate branch that paralleled the mainstream for a half-century, until finally, the waters were rejoined, making the river whole again. During this separation, baseball was not complete. The majority of Americans rode with the flow of the mainstream, following its course intently, with only an occasional excursion to see the flow of the parallel stream.

Thus, for a half-century, white Americans sat, watching major league baseball, only vaguely aware of the shadowy world of black baseball that existed beyond the scope of their vision. To most white baseball observers, black ballplayers were as unreal as the shadows on Plato's wall. In this world of reflected images, there existed exceptionally talented players whose abilities were unsurpassed anywhere.

Best known in today's baseball world, are Hall of Famers Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. But as Satchel himself said, "There were many Satchels, many Joshs." And indeed there were. There in the shadows of black baseball, were the players who were yesteryear equivalents of Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Lou Brock, Reggie Jackson, Barry Bonds, David Justice, Cecil Fielder, Ken Griffey, Jr., Frank Thomas, Ron Gant, Fred McGriff, Albert Belle, Ricky Henderson, Mo Vaughn, Andruw Jones and so many others. The list is endless.

Try to imagine post World War II baseball without the black baseball stars. Visualize, if you will, baseball today without black stars to complement the white stars. Obviously, all great black baseball players were not born after 1947, when Jackie Robinson re-integrated major league baseball. They were always there, required by custom and circumstance to play in their own separate leagues. This period of separation is remote from the memory of the majority of the current populace.

Today's younger generation, as well as most older generations, don't fully understand the sociological factors that prohibited black and white baseball players from engaging in competition together. Consequently, they know and understand even less about the men who were destined to demonstrate their abilities to a comparatively small segment of American society.

Who were these men forced to display their talent in virtual obscurity? During the half-century of dual baseball development, over 4,000 men displayed their talents in the arenas of black baseball, most of which were of major league caliber. Many of them possessed sufficient skills to have been starters in the major leagues. The best of these players would have won stardom.

Approximately three dozen of these stars had such magnificence careers as to have merited selection into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Extrapolating the past from the present, if the black leagues and the white leagues had been merged into the current 28-team configuration, an average black team during this period of separation would have had 14 players on their roster who possessed major league talent. Seven of the first nine could have won starting positions in the major leagues, with the top three players being "stars." For any given year, two out of every three teams would have a player in their line-up with Hall of Fame qualifications. By inherent necessity, the better teams would have exceeded these constraints, while lesser teams would have failed to meet these parameters.

Baseball was originally a "gentleman's game" played by members of rival athletic clubs for recreation. In the aftermath of the Civil War, baseball enjoyed a great surge in interest, activity and growth. Americans of all classes, creeds and races joined in the game that became our national pastime. At the time, baseball was still an amateur sport. Some black Americans played on all-black ballclubs while others played on integrated teams. However, black ballplayers were excluded from participation by the National Association of Baseball Players on December 11, 1868, when the the governing body voted unanimously to bar "any club which may be composed of one or more colored persons." This was the first appearance of an official "color line" in baseball.

When baseball attained professional status the following season, pro teams were not bound by the amateur association's ruling. During the 19th century, black ballplayers appeared on integrated teams and some black teams played in integrated leagues. In 1884, two brothers, Moses Fleetwood Walker and Welday Walker, even played in the major leagues. Gradually, black players began to be excluded from the white leagues and by the beginning of the new century, there were no black players in organized baseball.

However, black Americans continued to play baseball. By necessity, they played on all-black teams and eventually in all-black leagues. The first black professional team was the Cuban Giants in 1885. But teams played as independent ballclubs until the first black league was organized in 1920. That year, Rube Foster, the father of black baseball, founded the Negro National League. Three years later, in 1923, Ed Bolden formed the Eastern Colored League. These two leagues operated successfully for several years before they fell victim to financial difficulties. Other black major leagues also operated for single seasons but were unable to continue on a sound fiscal basis.