The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

team in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top

farm club In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

(

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL). ...

) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pioneering

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

player Jackie Robinson was a member for the 1946 season. The 1946 Royals were recognized as one of the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.

History

In 1928, George Stallings, a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

executive and

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

planter, formed a partnership with Montreal lawyer and politician Athanase David and businessman Ernest Savard to resurrect the Montreal Royals. Among the team's other local affluent notables were close friends Lucien Beauregard, Romeo Gauvreau, Hector H. Racine, and Charles E. Trudeau. Trudeau, businessman and father of the future 15th

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...

, Pierre Trudeau (and grandfather to the 23rd Prime Minister,

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

), would remain on the Montreal Baseball Club Inc. Board of Directors until his death in 1935. Together these men financed and built

Delorimier Stadium Delorimier Stadium (; also known as ''Montreal Stadium'', ''Hector Racine Stadium'' and ''Delorimier Downs'') was a 20,000-seat sports stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was located at 2101 Ontario Street East, at the corner of De Lorimier Ave ...

''(also known as Montreal Stadium, Hector Racine Stadium and Delorimier Downs)'' at Delorimier Avenue and Ontario Street in east-end Montreal to serve as the team's home field. This version of the Montreal Royals enjoyed great success, particularly after it became the top farm team of the Dodgers in 1939. The Royals launched the baseball careers of

Sparky Anderson George Lee "Sparky" Anderson (February 22, 1934 – November 4, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player, coach, and manager. He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 championships, then added a third ...

, Gene Mauch,

Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his early death, he was pos ...

and the man who broke

's color barrier with Montreal in 1946, Jackie Robinson. Other Royals' players of note include

Duke Snider Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider (September 19, 1926 – February 27, 2011), nicknamed "the Silver Fox" and "the Duke of Flatbush", was an American professional baseball player. Primarily a center fielder, he spent most of his Major League Baseball (M ...

, Don Drysdale,

Chuck Connors Kevin Joseph Aloysius "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have p ...

, Walter Alston,

Roy Campanella Roy Campanella (November 19, 1921 – June 26, 1993), nicknamed "Campy", was an American baseball player, primarily as a catcher. The Philadelphia native played in the Negro leagues and Mexican League for nine years before entering the minor lea ...

Johnny Podres John Joseph Podres (September 30, 1932 – January 13, 2008) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in the majors from 1953 to 1969, spending most of his career with the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers. Podres ...

and the winningest pitcher in the history of the team,

Tommy Lasorda Thomas Charles Lasorda (September 22, 1927 – January 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher and manager. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 through 1996. He was inducted into the Natio ...

. The team holds a unique place in baseball history for being the first major-league affiliate to break the so-called "baseball color barrier". On October 23, 1945, two members of the Brooklyn National League Baseball Club Inc. Board of Directors, Montreal Royals owner and team president, Hector Racine, and Brooklyn Dodgers

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

, Branch Rickey, signed Jackie Robinson, an

. Robinson played with the Royals during the 1946 season. John Wright and Roy Partlow, black pitchers, also played with the Royals that year. Jackie Robinson Montreal Royals jersey

During that season, Robinson faced the race-related resistance from his manager (a

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

an, Clay Hopper) and teammates but soon won them over with his masterful play (beginning with his spectacular debut in the opening game against the

Jersey City Giants {{about, the baseball team, the football team, American Association (American football) The Jersey City Giants was the name of a high-level American minor league baseball franchise that played in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the top farm system affi ...

) and courage facing hostile crowds and opponents. As for his home city, he was welcomed immediately by the public, who followed his performance that season with intense adoration. For the rest of his life, Robinson remained grateful to the people of

for making the city a welcoming oasis for him and his wife during that difficult 1946 season. They lived in an apartment in a white neighborhood of Montreal that summer. jackie3

Robinson then left to play for the Dodgers the following year, but not before winning the

Little World Series The Junior World Series was a postseason championship series between champions of two of the three highest minor league baseball leagues modeled on the World Series of Major League Baseball. It was called the Little World Series (no relation to ...

and being chased by exultant Montreal fans right to the train as he left. In Ken Burns' documentary film ''

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

'', the narrator quotes Sam Maltin, a sports journalist with the Montreal Herald'':'' "It was probably the only day in history that a black man ran from a white mob with love instead of lynching on its mind." The Royals continued through the 1960 season, two years after the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. On September 13, 1960, Dodgers President

Walter O'Malley Walter Francis O'Malley (October 9, 1903 – August 9, 1979) was an American sports executive who owned the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers team in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1979. In 1958, as owner of the Dodgers, he brought major league b ...

announced that due to weak attendance, the Dodgers were ending their 21-year affiliation with the team. While a new affiliation with the Minnesota Twins was arranged, efforts to keep the team in Montreal failed, and the franchise was relocated to Syracuse, New York for 1961, and became the

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

. Montreal would gain an

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

team, the

Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

, in 1969; "Royals" was suggested as a nickname for that team but was taken instead by the new American League club in Kansas City.

Titles

The Royals won the Governors' Cup, the championship of the IL, 7 times, and played in the championship series 11 times. *1935 – Lost to Syracuse *1941 – Defeated Newark *1945 – Lost to Newark *1946 – Defeated Syracuse *1948 – Defeated Syracuse *1949 – Defeated Buffalo *1951 – Defeated Syracuse *1952 – Lost to

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

*1953 – Defeated

*1954 – Lost to Syracuse *1958 – Defeated

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Montreal Royals records

Place des Royaux Montreal Royals Jackie Robinson

Junior World Series Appearances

Montreal Royals managers

Notable former players

– Major League Hall of Famer * Joe Altobelli – World Series-winning manager *

– Major League Baseball Hall of Famer * Al Campanis – Major League scout and general manager *

– Major League Hall of Famer *

– Major League first baseman and pinch-hitter * Tommy Davis – Major League outfielder and corner infielder * Don Drysdale – Major League Hall of Famer *

Carl Erskine Carl Daniel Erskine (born December 13, 1926) is a former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers from 1948 through 1959. He was a pitching mainstay on Dodger team ...

– Major League pitcher * George Gibson – Major League catcher and manager * Jim Gilliam – Major League infielder * Al Gionfriddo – Major League outfielder *

Carl Furillo Carl Anthony Furillo (March 8, 1922 – January 21, 1989), nicknamed "The Reading Rifle" and "Skoonj", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), spending his entire career with the Brooklyn / ...

– Major League outfielder *

Waite Hoyt Waite Charles Hoyt (September 9, 1899 – August 25, 1984) was an American right-handed professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for seven different teams during 1918–1938. He was one of the dominant pitchers of the 19 ...

– Major League Hall of Famer *

Sam Jethroe Samuel Jethroe, nicknamed "The Jet" (January 23, 1917 – June 16, 2001), was an American center fielder in Negro league and Major League Baseball. With the Cincinnati & Cleveland Buckeyes he won a pair of batting titles, hit .340 over seven seas ...

– Negro league and Major League center fielder *

– Major League Hall of Famer *

Van Lingle Mungo Van Lingle Mungo (June 8, 1911 – February 12, 1985) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from to for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. The five-time All-Star ...

– Major League pitcher *

Sam Nahem Samuel Ralph "Subway Sam" Nahem (October 19, 1915 – April 19, 2004) was an American pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1938), St. Louis Cardinals (1941), and Philadelphia Phillies (1942 and 1948). His professional baseball playing was interrup ...

– Major League pitcher *

Don Newcombe Donald Newcombe (June 14, 1926 – February 19, 2019), nicknamed "Newk", was an American professional baseball pitcher in Negro league and Major League Baseball who played for the Newark Eagles (1944–45), Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1949–1 ...

– Major League pitcher *

– Major League pitcher * Pete Reiser – Major League outfielder * John Roseboro – Major League catcher * Goody Rosen – Major League All Star outfielder * Jackie Robinson – Major League Hall of Famer *

Schoolboy Rowe Lynwood Thomas "Schoolboy" Rowe (January 11, 1910 – January 8, 1961) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, primarily for the Detroit Tigers (1932–42) and Philadelphia Phillies (1943, 1946–49). He was a three-time A ...

– Major League All Star pitcher *

– Major League Hall of Famer * George Shuba - Major League outfielder * Bucky Walters – Major League pitcher * Dick Williams – Major League outfielder-third baseman and World-Series-winning manager

Montreal Royals in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame

International League awards

Most Valuable Pitcher

First Awarded in 1953

Most Valuable Player

Rookie of the Year

First Awarded in 1950.

Triple Crown Winner

Given to the player who leads the league in Home Runs, Runs Batted In, and Batting Average

Notable media personnel

* Charles Mayer – French language radio broadcaster

Bibliography

* William Brown (foreword by Ken Singleton): ''Baseball's Fabulous Montreal Royals'' (1996) Robert Davies Publishing, 1996 –

References

{{Defunct Quebec Sports Baseball teams established in 1897 Sports clubs disestablished in 1960 Defunct International League teams Brooklyn Dodgers minor league affiliates Los Angeles Dodgers minor league affiliates Philadelphia Athletics minor league affiliates Pittsburgh Pirates minor league affiliates Defunct baseball teams in Canada

Roy Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

Syracuse Mets 1897 establishments in Quebec 1917 disestablishments in Quebec 1928 establishments in Quebec 1960 disestablishments in Quebec Baseball teams disestablished in 1960 Ontario–Quebec–Vermont League teams