It is almost impossible to exaggerate Jackie Robinson’s place in both baseball and American history. His accomplishments on the field not only integrated the game but helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement. And while Jackie made big league history in Brooklyn, it was in Montreal that his baseball journey began. Branch Rickey’s earth-shaking signing of Jackie Robinson in 1945 was not to a contract to play for his Brooklyn Dodgers club, but to play for the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers top farm club. Jackie spent the 1946 season in Montreal where he batted a league-leading .349, led the Royals to a Junior World Series victory and was named the International League’s Most Valuable Player. On top of all that, Robinson definitively proved that a black man could play baseball in a white league, paving the way for his breaking the major league color line in 1947.

Despite his wild popularity both during and after his playing days, single-signed Jackie Robinson balls are at a premium. Many of those encountered are on off-brand balls or National League models. This ball is somewhat more interesting in that Jackie has signed an Official International League Spalding ball. The exact date that Robinson signed the ball cannot be determined, but this particular style ball was used by the International League from 1936 through 1960. This date range makes it possible to have been signed during Robinson’s first season in organized baseball. Even without a 1946 provenance, this single-signed Jackie Robinson ball would be the center piece of any advanced collection. While Robinson normally signed balls on a side panel, Jackie penned his name on the sweet spot of this International League ball. The ball itself shows good use with overall toning and light staining, but luckily Robinson’s signature is in bold blue fountain pen, displaying nicely on the ball’s sweet spot. A tremendous single-signed Robinson ball made all the more special by both its placement and presence on the official ball of the minor league in which he began his incredible baseball odyssey. The ball comes with a LOA from JSA (BB21545) for the signature.

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