Opening Day
Page 36
“Perhaps I do look bad on a curve”: “Higbe Tackles Former Flock Mates Tonight,” Brooklyn Eagle, May 16, 1947.
“The guys on the team are all for him”: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 24, 1947.
CHAPTER TWELVE: “A SMILE OF ALMOST PAINFUL JOY”
“I Am an American Day”: “Edw. G. Robinson in American Day Rally,” Chicago Herald American, May 17, 1947.
Not since 1930: “Record 46,572 See Dodgers Beat Cubs, 4–2,” Chicago Tribune, May 19, 1947.
“Its Negro district is immense”: St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Clayton, Black Metropolis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), xxxv.
feeling as if he and his companions: “The Racial Gap in the Grandstands,” BusinessWeek, October 2, 2006.
“It was so exciting”: Interview with Bud Selig.
“The telephone booths are not men’s wash rooms”: “Through the Years,” Chicago Defender, May 17, 1947.
“As big as it was”: “Jackie’s Debut a Unique Day,” Chicago Sun-Times, October 25, 1972.
Afterward, thousands of black fans: Parrott, The Lords of Baseball, 266.
“as much depth as a shot of whiskey”: “Dodgers’ Hurling Woes Blamed on Rickey,” Daily News, May 21, 1947.
spent the night at the home of: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 31, 1947.
“We didn’t see much of him on the road”: Interview with Gene Hermanski.
Almost every black celebrity: “Jesse Johnson, St. Louis Business Promoter, Dies,” Chicago Defender, February 23, 1946.
about six thousand of them black: “Cardinal ‘Health Resort’ Makes Rivals Feel Better, Fans Worse,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22, 1947.
“Robinson was cheered each time”: Ibid.
“Watch this guy!”: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 31, 1947.
Ralph Branca noticed: Interview with Branca.
Bobby Bragan, one of the opponents: Interview with Bragan.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: UP AND DOWN MACDONOUGH STREET
took their meals at a small table: Interview with Rachel Robinson.
their full-size bed neatly made: Ibid.
She felt important: Ibid.
Over on Ralph Avenue: City telephone directories; interviews with Rachel Robinson, Clarence L. Irving, et al.
She felt isolated at times: Interview with Rachel Robinson.
Rachel also noticed that her husband didn’t like: Ibid.
turned to Thurgood Marshall of the NAACP: Letter from Robinson to Marshall, Library of Congress.
he would brag about how much of the twenty-five dollars remained: Interview with Rachel Robinson.
In Montreal, Jack and Rachel had each been: Rampersad, Jackie Robinson, 155.
He had made up his mind: Interview with Rachel Robinson.
she would offer a game of honeymoon bridge: Ibid.
“active listener”: Ibid.
once he got going, he found: Ibid.
An old friend who was studying piano: “Mrs. Jackie Robinson,” Sports Illustrated, May 1949.
Sometimes as a child she had felt: Interview with Rachel Robinson.
“The excitement, the joy”: Ibid.
“We were very, very much in love”: Ibid.
“a battle was underway for Harlem’s patronage”: “Robinson Pulls Fans From Negro Loop Game,” Daily Mirror, May 29, 1947.
“if Booker T. Washington himself was playing”: Ibid.
Sidney Poitier, twenty years old: Interview with Sidney Poitier.
on his feet, screaming: Interview with Hilton Clark.
The Covingtons were one of those families: Interviews with Rachel Robinson, Sharon Robinson, Clarence L. Irving, et al.
George Marchev, owner of the: Letter from Marchev to Rachel Robinson, Library of Congress.
Brown, the black man Marchev decided: Interviews with Freddie Palmisano and Edwina Gaiser-Marchev.
“Jackie Robinson opened the door of baseball”: Copy of Marchev’s prepared eulogy, Edwina Gaiser-Marchev.
Jewish workers filed 43 percent: Biondi, To Stand and Fight, 16.
“Why is this night different”: Interview with Henry Foner.
“When Robinson came among us”: “The Year of Years,” Daily News, October 9, 2005.
The Orange Blossom was a new restaurant: Interviews with Clarence L. Irving, Delores Squires, et al.
“You have to remember something”: Interview with Clarence L. Irving.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: A REAL GONE GUY
fans started screaming: “Reiser Hurt Crashing Wall; Flock Wins, 9–4,” Daily News, June 5, 1947.
“Hell, fellas”: “Flock Loses Reiser Services for Week,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 5, 1947.
felt well enough to ask for a cigarette: “Reiser Hurt Crashing Wall; Flock Wins, 9–4,” Daily News, June 5, 1947.
“What happened?”: Ibid.
Rickey had been working out a deal: Mann, The Jackie Robinson Story, 104.
“How ’ya doin’, Pete?”: Interview with Bobby Bragan.
“Jackie’s nimble”: “Jackie Helps Dodgers Near Record Gate,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 31, 1947.
the crowd rose to give Rachel and Jack Jr.: “Branca Wins in Relief Role, 6–5, After Losing, 3–1, to Cincinnati,” New York Times, June 11, 1947.
2,000 Ladies Day “fanettes”: “Robinson Bat Blazes as Flock Plays Dead,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 12, 1947.
“in the charmed circle to stay”: Ibid.
Bond Bread, which used: “Diamond Confetti,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 31, 1947.
“The St. Louis Cardinals aren’t only”: “St. Louis Pilot, Players Friendly, Helpful to Jackie,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 21, 1947.
“Boy, if you’d hit a home run today”: Ibid.
“Did I spike you, Jackie?”: Ibid.
“Listen, Robinson”: Ibid.
collapse of the Roman empire: “Dodgers Collapse Result of Casualties,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 16, 1947.
“Shotton’s team as now constituted”: Ibid.
“just a boy who doesn’t know what a curveball is”: “Dodgers Stop Cubs, 2–1, With Unearned Runs,” Daily News, May 17, 1947.
when Snider complained about being made to bunt: Barber, 1947, 156.
“I ache all over and now”: “Reiser Passing Up Hospital to Aid Desperate Dodgers,” New York Post, June 16, 1947.
knocked himself silly again: “Reiser—The Kid They Can’t Miss,” Daily News, June 17, 1947.
threatening to break his neck in a fair fight: “Three Cubs Fined After 2d Dodger Brawl,” Chicago Tribune, May 24, 1946.
“I was on the bag, but I kind of leaned forward”: Interview with Lennie Merullo.
Branch Rickey removed his coat: “Speed on Basepaths Gives Dodgers Well-Earned Verdict Over Bucs,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 25, 1947.
Robinson’s foot was wedged: Ibid.
Roth, too, was a rookie and an outsider: Interviews with Esther and Michael Roth.
Shotton became a believer: Prager, The Echoing Green, 183.
“I think that the other clubs”: “Reiser’s Dizzy Spells Worry Boss Rickey,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 24, 1947.
“who would not fit into our plans”: “Reiser Nerves Examined; Star Has Dizzy Spells,” Daily Mirror, June 25, 1947.
“In all my years in baseball”: “Reiser Flies to Johns Hopkins,” New York Post, June 24, 1947.
“He is a major leaguer in every respect”: “Chapman Says Jackie Keeping Brooklyn in Race by Brilliant Playing,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 28, 1947.
“He is ‘one of the boys’ ”: Ibid.
“It is my deep conviction”: “Truman Demands We Fight Harder to Spur Equality,” New York Times, June 30, 1947.
“the presence of a Negro player”: To Secure These Rights: The Report of the President’s Committee on Civil Rights (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1947), 18.
“Say, Jackie”: “Jackie Robinson: The Great Experiment,” Sport, October 1948.
> “joked and kidded with Jackie”: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 28, 1947.
they never approached the story: Transcript of Jerome Holtzman interview of Wendell Smith.
“Bo Jangles of the Diamond”: “Bo Jangles of the Diamond,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 29, 1947.
“The time has come”: “Jackie Robinson Takes Lead Role as Dodgers Walk into the Lead,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 27, 1947.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: A GOOD THING FOR EVERYBODY
Ben Chapman had been thoroughly cured: “Report Pirates, Phillies Seek Colored Stars,” New Jersey Afro-American, July 5, 1947.
“We were delighted that Jackie had gotten”: Interview with Monte Irvin.
“We were like janitors”: Ibid.
He didn’t feel like getting back to baseball: Ibid.
he felt a spark: Ibid.
“They pay our boy good”: Roy Campanella, It’s Good to Be Alive (Boston: Signet, 1974), 71.
“Mr. Rickey certainly was”: Ibid., 106.
“I hear you went over”: Ibid., 109.
Campanella sat dumbstruck: Ibid., 110.
“I had not the slightest doubt”: Bill Veeck and Ed Linn, Veeck as in Wreck (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001), 171.
“Judge Landis wasn’t exactly shocked”: Ibid.
“I moved slowly and carefully”: Ibid., 175.
“I am operating under the belief”: “Cleveland Buys Doby, 1st Negro in AL,” Daily News, July 4, 1947.
“more surprised than excited”: “Doby Helps Team Win Second Game,” New Jersey Afro-American, July 12, 1947.
The team’s two first basemen: Joseph Thomas Moore, Pride Against Prejudice (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1988), 48.
two black men in jackets and ties: “Protection Unnecessary for Doby’s Debut,” Sporting News, July 16, 1947.
Pete Norton of the Tampa Tribune warned: “Dixie Action on Negroes Urged,” Sporting News, July 16, 1947.
No one was buying it: “Two Negroes Play Tonight With Browns,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 17, 1947.
“A bunch of bums”: Interview with Bob Dillinger.
Tom Baird, a white man: Lanctot, Negro League Baseball, 315.
Heath grabbed the piece of lumber: James A. Riley, The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1994), 128.
“The Browns couldn’t beat the Monarchs”: Larry Moffi and Jonathan Kronstadt, Crossing the Line (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1994), 14.
“We were apprehensive”: Interview with Eddie Robinson.
“Doby wasn’t prepared”: Interview with Al Rosen.
“a complete bust”: Veeck and Linn, Veeck as in Wreck, 177.
“There is considerable apprehension”: “Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, August 9, 1947.
white baseball had “no right to destroy”: New York Age, November 17, 1945.
a $2-million-a-year business: Hogan, Shades of Glory, 343.
At Yankee Stadium, attendance: Lanctot, Negro League Baseball, 317.
a mere thirty-eight hundred fans: “Eagles Twice Lick Elites in Baltimore,” New Jersey Afro-American, July 26, 1947.
“We’ll hire any Negro player”: “Big Leagues Scout 10 Negro Players,” Chicago Defender, August 9, 1947.
“You doubled your ambition”: Interview with Minnie Minoso.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE POISON PEN
he still wasn’t even sure: “Between Two Putouts,” New York Times, January 8, 1957.
“You’d have thought the Dodgers”: “Branca 1-Hitter Blanks Cards, 7–0, for Flock,” Daily News, July 19, 1947.
Thirteen radio stations around the country: “14 Hits Trip Brooks,” New York Times, July 20, 1947.
“I live in a small all negro town”: Letter to Robinson, Library of Congress.
On occasion, a writer and his wife: Interviews with Jack Lang and Lester Rodney.
2.4 million on weekdays: “Captain Bob’s Amazing Eleventh-Hour Rescue,” Time, March 25, 1991.
a city kid, born in Washington Heights: Golenbock, Bums, 299.
“the asshole of the Depression”: Ibid.
On his fourth try, he was offered: Ibid., 300.
Powers ran it word for word: Ibid.
Labine challenged the writer: Ibid., 302.
“The ballplayers called him Poison Pen”: Interview with Jack Lang.
“This story belongs on page three”: “Giants Massacre Flock, 19–2, On 15-Hit Barrage; Gain 2d,” Daily News, July 4, 1947.
“Wally Westlake, which is a baseball player”: “Bucks Top Flock in 2, Westlake Drives in 7 Runs in First,” Daily News, July 16, 1947.
The headline in the Daily News went: “Dodgers Rout Lively, 12–1; 16th for Branca,” Daily News, July 23, 1947.
“His legs are agile, his hands sure”: “Dodgers Beat Cards—In Raising Rookies,” Daily News, July 27, 1947.
“Eef I have my good arm”: David Maraniss, Clemente (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006), 248.
“I am positive”: Transcript of Rowan interview of Robinson, Library of Congress.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE UNBEATABLE YANKEES
offered DiMaggio to the woeful: Richard Ben Cramer, Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), 223.
the heel injury jolted Joe in the worst way: Ibid., 227.
“Greatest left-handed hitter I’ve ever seen”: Halberstam, Summer of ’49, 45.
he told manager Bucky Harris: Cramer, Joe DiMaggio, 228.
“political and social-minded drum beaters”: Tygiel, Baseball’s Great Experiment, 83.
Not until they found a black man worthy: Ibid., 224–25.
Some began skipping the flights: “Yanks in Player Revolts; DiMaggio Reported Fined,” Brooklyn Eagle, May 22, 1947.
MacPhail sent a newsreel crew on the field: “Six Yanks Balk at Publicity Stunts, Fined by M’Phail,” New York Post, May 22, 1947.
Butler-Mitchell Boys Club collected $1.03: “Buffalo Boys’ Pennies Reduce DiMaggio’s Fine,” New York Times, May 24, 1947.
“It would be goin’ over the shortstop’s head”: Cramer, Joe DiMaggio, 230.
certain that his teammates distrusted: Ibid., 230–31.
Suddenly, Page found a focus: Ibid., 231.
dressing like his roommate: Ibid., 230–31.
Had Page failed that day: “Page’s Pitching Major Surprise of Campaign,” New York Post, July 11, 1947.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: DIXIE WALKER’S DILEMMA
was on the training table: “Robinson Wins in Uphill Battle for Teammates’ OK,” Boston Daily, June 28, 1947.
“You’re improving a lot”: Ibid.
“best friend and chief adviser”: Vincent X. Flaherty column, Los Angeles Examiner, July 12, 1947.
“Some sports writers fall for anything”: Rachel Robinson scrapbook.
Robinson said that Walker was the only man: Transcript of Rowan interview of Robinson, Library of Congress.
There was a faint sense: Interviews with Branca, King, et al.
What was the point of playing: Golenbock, Bums, 216.
“You fellas can win the pennant: Ibid., 169.
“Put Burt on a bench”: “About a 2d Stringer Named Burt Shotton,” Brooklyn Eagle, July 30, 1947.
Myron Uhlberg received two tickets: Interview with Myron Uhlberg.
“It’s not even baseball”: Ibid.
a smattering of racist cries: “Sidelights on the Dodger-Cardinal Series,” Pittsburgh Courier, August 9, 1947.
white men with standing-room-only tickets: Ibid.
“this summer of our Lord 1947”: “Here to Yonder,” Chicago Defender, August 9, 1947.
CHAPTER NINETEEN: THE FOOTSTEPS OF ENOS “COUNTRY” SLAUGHTER
Wilder lived in Richmond: Margaret Edds, Claiming the Dream (Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 1990), 21.
the St. Louis Cardinals were his biggest worry: Interview with Douglas Wilder.
“the arguingest little
man”: Edds, Claiming the Dream, 29.
middle seat in the back: Interview with Wilder.
Yet Doug had not given much thought: Ibid.
“Wow!” said the kid: Ibid.
“They have to beat us”: “Showdown Series at Hand as Cardinals Face Dodgers,” New York Post, August 18, 1947.
one curve for every three fastballs: Alan Roth scorecards, Retrosheet, Inc.
“He just thinks too much”: “Bucs Get Quick Chill, 3–1; Branca Wins 18th,” Daily News, August 25, 1947.
Wilder and the barbershop quartet: Interview with Wilder.
“Hit da ball, Jackie boy! Hit da ball!”: Ibid.
“I was shocked”: Ibid.
“What else could it have been?”: “Slaughter’s ‘Mis-step’ Draw’s Robbie’s Fire,” New York Post, August 21, 1947.
“Jackie was lucky he wasn’t maimed”: Ibid.
Harold Parrott, the team secretary: Ibid.
“It took me the better part”: Interview with Wilder.
Only four times: “Rookie of the Year . . . Jackie Robinson,” Sporting News, September 17, 1947.
“No other player on this club”: Ibid.
Bankhead became the inspiration for Troy Maxson: Riley, The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, 54.
“Call me if I can help”: “Heavy Pressure on Bankhead,” New York Post, August 26, 1947.
“It was as though he had been hit by Joe Gluttz”: “Pirates Overwhelm Flock, 16–3; Bankhead Routed, Hits HR,” Daily News, August 27, 1947.
“It was just one of those days”: “Bankhead’s Failure in Bow Discounted,” New York Post, August 27, 1947.
Garagiola called fastball after fastball: Interview with Joe Garagiola.
Robinson said he did: Robinson and Smith, Jackie Robinson, 158; interview with Garagiola.
He appeared to laugh: Photograph, Sporting News, September 24, 1947.
He grabbed Robinson’s hand: “Jackie’s Clutch Playing Thaws Flocks’ Reserve,” Daily News, September 16, 1947.
“I bet Robinson just a hit a home run”: “Sports Train,” People’s Voice, September 20, 1947.
“Was that you, Papa?”: Interview with Garagiola.