Hall of Fame broadcaster Red Barber (right) in Cuba for spring training with the Brooklyn Dodgers. This photo is from the University of Florida — Barber’s alma mater — digital library. CMQ and CMBZ (shown on the banner in the background) were among the radio stations that broadcast Cuban League games. The Dodgers held spring training in Havana in 1941, 1942 and 1947, the year Jackie Robinson’s bid to break baseball’s color barrier began in Cuba. Barber joined the Dodgers in 1938 and the UF archive doesn’t specify which of those visits is depicted in this photo. Barber, who was born is Missississippi, actually considered quiting when Dodgers president Branch Rickey told him he was considering signing a black player to play for the Dodgers.

Hall of Fame broadcaster Red Barber (right) in Cuba for spring training with the Brooklyn Dodgers. This photo is from the University of Florida — Barber’s alma mater — digital library. CMQ and CMBZ (shown on the banner in the background) were among the radio stations that broadcast Cuban League games.

The Dodgers held spring training in Havana in 1941, 1942 and 1947, the year Jackie Robinson’s bid to break baseball’s color barrier began in Cuba. Barber joined the Dodgers in 1938 and the UF archive doesn’t specify which of those visits is depicted in this photo.

Barber, who was born is Missississippi, actually considered quiting when Dodgers president Branch Rickey told him he was considering signing a black player to play for the Dodgers.

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