On October 23, 1945, Jackie Robinson signed a historic contract to play with the Montreal Royals, the top-tier minor league franchise of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The signing and the legendary career that resulted are well-documented. His tour of Venezuela that immediately followed the signing, as part of a Negro Leagues all-star squad, is barely documented at all. Information about the trip varies from source-to-source. Depending upon where you look, it was either two months or ten weeks. Another source specifies 24 games without mentioning a time frame. Some researchers claim that Branch Rickey himself assigned Robinson to the traveling team, while most others fail to identify the impetus for him making the trip. Whatever the reason, and for ever how long, the American All-Stars' (referred to by the local press as Las Estrellas Negras - The Black Stars) visit to Caracas and Maracaibo was an important step in Robinson's development as a player.
