Jackie Robinson's 1945 Tour of Venezuela

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.

It certainly makes sense that Branch Rickey would want Robinson to get some games in before reporting to Montreal.  After all, 26-year old Robinson was under tremendous pressure to succeed, with only one year of professional baseball experience on his resume (with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League).  Rickey was attracted to Robinson's all-around athleticism, personal character, and history of playing on integrated teams, but it was no secret that he wasn't the best player in the Negro Leagues.  Spending some time with an ensemble of all-stars, an ensemble that included future Hall-of-Famers Buck Leonard and Roy Campanella, could only up his game. Rickey was also well aware of the racial tensions surrounding the contract, and it's possible he felt Robinson would be more comfortable far away from the scrutiny and criticism back home.  Reports of Branch Rickey appearing at the airport to see off his new star lend credence to the idea that it was he who arranged for Robinson to join the tour.

Nobody wanted Robinson to succeed more than his fellow Negro Leagues players, who knew if he did well it could open the door for greater integration.  Upon arriving in Venezuela, his teammates eagerly showered him with tips on baserunning, fielding mechanics, and other aspects of the game.  The player who most took Robinson under his wing was veteran outfielder Gene Benson.  A well-liked person and highly respected contact hitter, Benson worked with his protege on hitting a curveball (a skill which eluded Robinson as a Monarch, but he came to excel at in the majors).  Just as importantly, as Robinson's roommate for the length of the tour, Benson also mentored his new friend psychologically.  Still unproven at the professional level, Robinson had doubts about his ability to make it in the Dodger organization.  Through a series of late night discussions, Benson encouraged his roommate and eased his mind by assuring him that major league pitching would actually be easier to hit than what he had faced up until that point.  This, as stated by Benson, was because the crowd-pleasing trick pitches and aggressive style common among Negro Leagues pitchers, were largely discouraged, and therefore less seen, in the majors.
  

According to team catcher Quincy Trouppe, the team was invited to the country by a Venezuelan consul official named Blanco Chitaiqe (seen in the above photo, top row, first on the left), They faced local clubs such as the Cerveceria Caracas (Caracas Brewery), Sabios de Vargas (Vargas Wisemen), and Navegantes del Magallenes (Magellan Navigators).  The tour was most likely arranged by Chitaiqe as a promotional effort to stir up interest in the upstart Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League). The league, which initially included the three aforementioned teams plus one more, became an official entity shortly after the Americans departed, launching their first tournament on January 3, 1946.  It's still active today.  The Navegantes' star pitcher, Alejandro "Alex" Carrasquel (pictured on the left), was the first Venezuelan to play in the MLB. 

Robinson returned home a more confident and refined player. A few weeks later he married his long time girlfriend, Rachel Isum, and shortly after that the two reported to Daytona Beach for Spring Training.  In 1946 he batted .349 for the Montreal Royals with 40 stolen bases and 113 runs scored (in 124 games).  The following season, he was called up to the Dodgers, thereby integrating the Major Leagues. The rest is baseball history.

Sources
-Jackie Robinson in Quotes: The Remarkable Life of Baseball's Most Significant Player, Danny Peary, Page Street Publishing, 2016
-Raceball: How the Major Leagues Colonized the Black and Latin Game, Rob Ruck, Beacon Press, 2012
-Of Monarchs and Black Barons: Essays on Baseball's Negro Leagues, James A. Riley, McFarland Press, 2012
-September Swoon, Richie Allen, the '64 Phillies, and Racial Integration, William C. Kashatus, Penn State University Press, 2005
-Jackie Robinson: A Biography, Mary Kay Linge, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007
-"Robinson, Wright, Negro Players, Start Training at Sanford Camp", Roscoe McGowen, The New York Times, March 5, 1946
-"Un Dia Como Hoy, Hace 69 Anos, Jackie Robinson Jugo en Venezuela", Notica al Dia (Venezuela), November 24, 2014
-"Jackie Robinson, Primer Pelotero Negro en las Grandes Ligas, Tambien Brillo en Venezuela", 800 Noticias, April 15, 2016
-"Phillie's Gene Benson was Winner On and Off the Field", William C. Kashatus, Philly.com, April 16, 1999
-"Historia", LVBP.com