Ladamian Tomlinson was the first player to wear the eyeglass shield.
Paul Hines, centerfielder of the 1878 Providence Grays
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Babe
Bo Jackson in baseball and football.
The first major league, the National Association, started in 1871. The National League's first year was 1876 and the American League's first year was 1901.
Jackie Robinson's first major league team was the Brooklyn Dodgers.
If you do not count the Negro League, the first non-white major league player was the great Jackie Robinson.
first to play
A big league is a major league in any sport - the highest level at which a person can play.
The first major league in baseball was the National Association whose first year was 1871.
Emmett Ashford is the first black umpire in a major league game when Cleveland beats Washington
He was the first black to play MLB since Moses Walker did so in 1884.
Jackie Robinson was a Major League Baseball player who played 2nd base for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He is famous because in April of 1947, he broke baseball's color barrier by becoming the first ever African American to play in a Major League Baseball game for a Major League Baseball team.
Although the definition of "major league" has been argued, present day MLB, as well as the Hall of Fame, define the first "major" league as the National League founded in 1876. The link below describes the first game played in that league, on April 22, and mentions that Jim O'Rourke got the first hit in that game.