The Yankees broke their color barrier when they introduced Elston Howard as their catcher to New York. Howard, much like Jackie Robinson, did all the right things and still managed to thrive in a nation that was still afflicted with some serious prejudices.
Today, it can be argued that those same prejudices still exist even while the face of baseball has changed. Except for one thing. It’s not the blacks who have risen in the ranks regarding participation in major league baseball.
And no one at the time could have predicted that ballplayers of Latin American descent would overtake Black Americans, as they have, and even threaten (God forbid) to overtake the percentage of Caucasian ballplayers shortly.