1945 Brooklyn Dodgers and Brooklyn Brown Dodgers Lease Agreement Signed by Branch Rickey

Sold For:

$4,560

Year:

1945

Auction:

2023 Summer

Lot #:

1891

Category:

Autographed Baseballs/Flats/Photos

Four-page lease agreement dated May 24, 1945, between the Brooklyn National League Baseball Club, Inc. and the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers. The one-year agreement allows Joseph Hall's baseball team to lease Ebbets Field for games during the 1945 season. It has been signed in black fountain pen by "Branch Rickey" and the Brown Dodgers team president "Joseph W. Hall." The document, printed on onionskin, has one horizontal fold and two punch holes at the top. In Very Good condition overall. The Brooklyn Brown Dodgers were one of the entries in the newly formed United States League in 1945. The league was formed as a rival to the two existing professional Negro Leagues. The Brown Dodgers, who were sponsored by the Brooklyn Dodgers, played their games in Ebbets Field. Though the league was formed in earnest as a rival Negro League, Rickey used the league to enhance his scouting of Negro League players in anticipation of integrating the Brooklyn Dodgers in the near future. The Brooklyn Brown Dodgers were in existence for only one season, and the league folded in 1946 after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and signed with Montreal. Accompanying the lease agreement is an unexecuted "United States Baseball League" player's contract. Total: 2 items (lease agreement and contract). Auction LOA from James Spence/JSA. Opening Bid $300.