Significant Type 2 photo featuring an image captured on April 11, 1947 at Ebbets Field. The big sports news in Brooklyn at the time was the suspension of Dodgers Manager Leo Durocher due to an "accumulation of unpleasant incidents." Bumped to the back pages on April 10 was that in the 4th inning, in front of an Ebbets Field crowd of 14,282, Jackie Robinson walked and scored a run for Montreal in an exhibition contest against the Dodgers. During the fifth inning, Branch Rickey's assistant, Arthur Mann, distributed a news release that stated, simply, "The Brooklyn Dodgers today purchased the contract of Jackie Robinson from the Montreal Royals." While several books indicate that the announcement was made April 9, newspaper accounts and boxscores indicate otherwise. Regardless, without much fanfare, the color barrier was broken in the 5th inning of a meaningless exhibition game at Ebbets Field. The following day, on April 11 Robinson would wear a Dodgers uniform for the first time, in an exhibition game against the Yankees. #42 would make his storied major league debut four days later on April 15, 1947.

While the presented photograph hails from sometime between 1958-1962, it has been developed directly from the original April 11, 1947 negative, thus earning Type 2 status. The image having served as the source material for a card in Bond Bread's scarce 1947 Jackie Robinson set. Photo has survived in exemplary condition with bright white borders nicely framing the vivid central image of Jackie. PSA is only aware of TWO Type 1 examples of this photo in the hobby, with the most recent sale achieving $30k. UPI credit stamping appears on verso above an area where a paper caption was once removed. Authenticated and encapsulated as a Type 2 photo by PSA/DNA.