If you are really interested in Jackie Robinson and his impact on baseball and American race relations, you might consider this book an excellent appetizer for a meatier volume.
High Point: The progress exhibited as a society and as individuals during the summer of 1947.
Low Point: The idea that Americans as a community can be so cruel to an entire group of fellow citizens.
Author: Scott Simon
Publication Date: 2002
Genre: Sports
Project Gutenberg: Not available
LibriVox: Not available
Movie/TV Adaptation: None
Scott Simon’s Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball is like the Reader’s Digest condensed version of the Robinson story. Approach it from that standpoint, and you’ll find this a decent read.
Generally, Simon focuses on the events of 1947—Robinson’s first year with the Brooklyn Dodgers. But he provides sufficient background from previous years to build a solid context for his account of Robinson’s first summer in the major leagues.
Threats, Taunts and Friendships
Simon pulls no punches relating the horrific abuse Robinson and his wife endured that season and the years preceding. For example, he describes the couple’s trip from California to the Dodgers’ spring training camp in Daytona Beach, Florida. In Louisiana and Florida, they were repeatedly bumped from connecting flights, relegated to seedy hotels and forgotten by the airlines. They eventually completed the trip by bus—in the back, of course.
He’s also candid about the threats, taunts, and epithets Robinson bore from fans, opposing teams, anonymous letter writers, and occasionally even teammates.
On the other hand, Simon discusses the open support and friendship Robinson received from people like Dodger General Manager Branch Rickey and shortstop Pee Wee Reese.
It’s About Baseball, Too
The book is not entirely about the racial issues associated with Robinson’s jump to the major leagues. Simon is obviously a baseball fan, and it shows as he devotes considerable space to Robinson’s performance and its impact on the Dodgers during that summer of 1947.
Simon has been a longtime radio journalist with NPR, and his writing style reflects that. He writes like he talks on the air—generally short sentences with not a lot of detail, and easy to follow.
Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball is a worthwhile read, but you may find yourself wanting more information than Simon offers. If you are really interested in Jackie Robinson and his impact on baseball and American race relations, you might consider this book an excellent appetizer for a meatier volume.
Quotes
| “Boston was just about as interested in signing Jackie Robinson as it was in a return of the Tea Tax.” |
| “DeLand, Florida, cancelled a game because they said the lights were not working in the city’s stadium. It was a day game.” |
| “Good people have the character to change the convictions of a lifetime.” |
