A forgotten legacy of MLB expansion in 1961-62 is that it mostly killed racial discrimination in promoting black prospects. In the 1950s, it was still common for black players to log an extra year or two battering minor league competition - teams still hesitant to integrate fast.
Rule V draft is also part of that story alongside expansion (eg, Roberto Clemente getting liberated from the Dodgers system). It got harder in general to keep talented players down.
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The Rule 5 draft goes back to about 1903 or something, doesn't it? There were a couple of superstars way back who have been described as Rule V drafts. John?
@thorn_john -
Open to correction on that one. I had thought it either started or expanded some time in the Fifties. Whole premise of the draft wouldn't make sense before farm systems.
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