Bobby Tolan

Virgil Sweet is on the verge of losing his job as a talent scout with the California Angels when he discovers Sammy Bodeen, a country boy with no pro ball experience, but with a pitching arm no one has seen the like of.

Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color line in 1947, but it took another generation of Black and Latino players to make the sport truly open to all. Playing in remote minor-league towns, these were the men who, before they could live their big-league dreams, first had to beat Jim Crow.