Upon leaving the military Robison found work with the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs. The World War II years marked the heyday of the Negro Leagues. With black and white worker flooding into Northern industrial centers, with relatively full employment, and with a scarcity of available consumer goods, attendance at all sorts of entertainment events increased dramatically. In 1942 three million fans saw Negro League teams play, and the East-West game in 1943 attracted over fifty-one thousand fans

In 1945, during his only season with the Monarchs, Robinson played shortstop, and excelled on the bases. His success with the Monarchs determined sportswriter Wendell Smith to arrange a tryout with the Boston Red Sox for Robinson and two other African-American players from the Negro Leagues. However, they were not signed, and the Red Sox would become the only Major League team to integrate, in 1959 when they would enroll their first...
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