Select the best word or phrase to complete each sentence below.

a. during its earliest years, professional baseball was .
b. the segregation of professional baseball was enforced by
c. after the segregation of the major leagues, african american players

a. not segregated
b. informal agreement
c. played in negro leagues

The best word or phrase for the sentences are the following:  a. During its earliest years, professional baseball was not segregated (Option A); b. The segregation of professional baseball was enforced by informal agreement (Option B); c. After the segregation of the major leagues, African American players (Option C).

Baseball was a segregated sport for 60 years. Before segregation was imposed due to a tacit understanding or a "gentlemen's agreement" in the sport, there were some black players who played on white teams. A gentlemen's agreement is a term given to an informal, unspoken agreement that is reached between two or more parties. It is said to be based on the honor of the parties involved.  

Moses Fleetwood Walker is one example of a black player who played for a short time in 1884. His brother Weldy Walker also played for a short time on the same team called the Toledo Blue Stockings. Another player that is said to have played for a white team before the idea to segregate the sport emerged was John W. "Bud" Fowler who played in 1872. Fowler played for various teams throughout his life in New York and a number of states in the Midwest. In 1987, the Society for American Baseball Research decided to memorialize his gravesite for his role as the first professional baseball player of African-American descent.

Beginning in 1887 the sport became segregated in practice until famous player Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Jackie Robinson played an important role in the civil rights movement. He also held many prominent positions in his life off the field. He was the first black sportscaster on television and the first black vice president of a major corporation. He also helped to found a bank in Harlem called the Freedom National Bank that served African-American clients. Posthumously, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.