📢 TOP STORY: The year was 1948 when Johnny Ritchey changed the PCL forever, becoming the West Coast symbol of baseball’s integration ⚡ .NL

Johnny Ritchey became the first African American baseball player to join the San Diego Padres.

Ritchey became “the Jackie Robinson of the West Coast” by breaking the Pacific Coast League’s color barrier in 1948 while playing for the Padres.

His debut came just one year after Jackie Robinson broke the major league color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Ritchey played for the Padres as a catcher in 1948 and 1949.

For more information on Black history in San Diego and to participate in Celebrate San Diego: Black History & Heritage at the San Diego History Center, go to sandiegohistory.org/exhibition/celebratesd_blackhistoryheritage/

In honor of Black History Month, the Union-Tribune has partnered with the San Diego History Center to present items each day in February on local Black history

On Feb. 20, nationally

1895 – Death of Frederick Douglass. Douglass was the leading black spokesman for almost 50 years. He was a major abolitionist, lecturer, and editor.