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First Spring Training
Daytona Beach, United States
· Jackie Robinson
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During Billy Rowe's account of the Royals' first spring training with Robinson, a game in Sanford, Florida, turned into a stark confrontation with segregation after Robinson got a hit, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball, and stole home, only to be ordered off the field by a policeman because local law prohibited Blacks from playing with whites; Black fans then left in protest, which Rowe remembered as the first demonstration of racial togetherness he had witnessed. Later that spring training, a game in DeLand featuring Jackie Robinson and Johnny Wright was canceled with faulty lighting given as the reason even though it was to be played in daylight, and a trip to Jacksonville ended with the ballpark gates locked because, according to a city official, local laws would not allow Negroes and whites to play on the same field. The remaining scheduled games featuring Robinson and Wright were moved to Daytona Beach.
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