On this day in 1945 Brooklyn Dodger President Branch Rickey announced that the team had  signed Jackie Robinson to a contract to play with the Brooklyn  Triple A team in Montreal. Robinson who was 26 at the time would become the first black player to play in organized baseball since 1884. He would spend a year in Montreal before beginning his Hall of Fame career with the Dodgers in 1947. Mr. Rickey chose well. Robinson was not the best player in the Negro Leagues but he was the best person for this situation.