My only Negro Leagues related piece. One of Jackie's roommates.
"After signing with Rickey in the winter of 1945, he accompanied a black All Star team to Venezuela. The other players saw Rickey talking to Robinson at the airport before they left. but when they asked about the conversation. Robinson told them it pertained to a new black league that Rickey was organizing. Later, when Rickey made the announcement about the true topic of discussion, Robinson was in Venezuela. During the intervening winter, Robinson expressed doubts to roommate Gene Benson about his ability to make it with the Dodgers. Benson reassured him that if he could hit the pitching in the Negro Leagues, he could hit major league pitching."