I'm extremely proud and pleased to be here this afternoon, but must admit I'm going to be

tremendously more pleased and more proud when I look at that third base coaching line one day

and see a blackface managing in baseball.

Thank you very much.

Three years after Jackie made that epic speech, Frank Robinson became the first black

manager in Major League Baseball history, or I should say, first black

full-time manager in Major League Baseball history.

Back in 2012, we had a conversation with Henry Aaron, Dave Winfield, and Frank Robinson

here at the Negro League Baseball Museum. Frank spoke about how he was

offered the Cleveland Indians manager job in 1975 and how difficult the decision was to take it.

The general manager told me, we want you to manage the Cleveland Indians. And the season wasn't over. We had three games ago. I said, okay, I'll do that. But he said, we want you to be a player manager. I said, I don't want to be a player manager. It's hard enough to play this game as it is. Then to be a player manager, that's going to make it even tougher. He says, no, we want you to be a player manager.

I said, okay, how much you're going to pay me to be a manager?

Because I had a contract for $180,000 for the following year,

and he said, we're going to pay you $200,000.

I said, now, wait a minute.

I said, I wasn't very good in math.

But I know that he's talking about paying me $20,000 to manage the club.

And I get the $180 for being a player.

And he says, I say, you're only going to be me $20,000 to manage club?

He said, that's right.

Take it or leave it.

So I had to do some thinking real quick.

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