Whenever the coined phrase "America's favorite pastime" comes up, there is rarely an American who doesn't immediately imagine the green grass, red dirt, and white lines that make up the image of a baseball diamond. Baseball has been an integral part of American culture for decades, and the first half of the 1900s was certainly no exception. Another event of this period was the seemingly endless struggle of African Americans to gain rights that had long been denied to them. Most people wouldn't immediately connect the two events to anything other than their time period, but the civil rights movement and baseball were intertwined through Jackie Robinson and other players like him. Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play major league baseball, was a crucial part of the civil rights movement because he integrated one of the most important pasts in American history, using the respect, attention and recognition found in this sports to make an impact on behalf of all African Americans. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayBaseball was a major player in the civil rights movement due to its immense popularity at the time, with its appeal “not limited to one racial group”” (73). Also, what about baseball , fans were “primarily interested in the excellence of the performance…rather than the color, race, or creed of the performer” (73). make a name for himself in the world of baseball. As he began to become known for how well he could do in the sport, he gained popularity in America. James A. Mannix was a man who began to root for Robinson, saying, “The balls that you [Robinson] you batted went far and high and some narrow-minded people craned their necks for once and saw the light" (101). For Robinson, this newfound fame in baseball was simply a way to put foot in the door of racism and inequality for African Americans, paving the way for them to move forward and do so much more. Baseball was only the first field in which Robinson conquered regarding racism and civil rights. Once the country knew his name and recognized it, it could take a stand against the issue as a whole, expressing what it believed in and fighting to get something done about it. He wrote pieces for newspapers, saying how much he hated the fact that "playing baseball is one thing and the color of a man's skin is another" (79). Although Robinson was pleased that baseball had taken such a major step forward in terms of integration, he called for it to go further, saying, "As long as the fans approve, we will continue to make progress, until we reach the limit." the rest of the way to wipe out Jim Crow from American sports" (113). Robinson wrote letters to presidents, one to Dwight D. Eisenhower to explain that African Americans "have been the most patient of all peoples" (116) and that they get tired of constantly being told to keep doing it, one to John F. Kennedy, urging him to take action to protect Martin Luther King, Jr. from being killed like many who take a stand against segregation, saying that "the world cannot afford to lose it to the whims of homicidal maniacs" (118), and another to Lyndon B. Johnson, asking him to "keep pushing for justice for all Americans" and telling him in closing, "We need a stand still firmer as it goes.