KC a stepping stone for Robinson Legend played for Negro League
Monarchs before Dodgers KANSAS CITY -- Jackie Robinson Day has
added significance in Kansas City because the city was a
stepping stone for his path to the Major Leagues. Robinson
played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League
in 1945 before he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He did
pretty well, too, hitting .345 for the Monarchs. On Robinson's
day, all of the uniforms of the Royals and visiting Indians bore
his No. 42 in honor of the man who broke the game's color
barrier with the Dodgers on April 15, 1947. "Obviously he was
before my time, but I grew up hearing stories of his heroics
dealing with baseball and what he had to go through, what
everybody back in those times had to go through," said Royals
center fielder Coco Crisp. "He just did it in the spotlight of
baseball." "He paved the way for more minorities to have the
opportunity to play the game today," Crisp added. "It's a
tremendous thing that he put up with everythin