Jackie Robinson
Other teams, however, had more serious interest in signing a black ballplayer. In the mid-1940s, Branch Rickey, club president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, began to scout the Negro leagues for a possible addition to the Dodgers' roster. Rickey selected Robinson from a list of African-American players. He interviewed Robinson for possible assignment to Brooklyn's International League farm club, the Montreal Royals. Rickey was especially interested in making sure his eventual hire could put up with the racial abuse that he would receive. In a famous three-hour discussion on August 28, 1945, Rickey asked Robinson if he could face the racial hatred without reacting angrily. This was a worry because of Robinson's past arguments with law enforcement officials at PJC and in the military. Robinson was shocked: "Are you looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back?" Rickey replied that he needed a Negro player "with guts enough not to fight back." After receiving a vow from Robinson to "turn the other cheek" to racial taunts, Rickey agreed to sign him to a contract for $600 a month.