Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball

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Scott Simon’s Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball feels a bit like the Reader’s Digest condensed version of the Robinson story.  Approach it as an introduction to Jackie Robinson, and you may find this a decent read.

An Incomplete Story

Generally, Simon focuses on the events of 1947—Robinson’s first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the year an African American first secured a spot on a Major League Baseball roster.  He provides sufficient background from previous years to build a solid context for challenges faced by Robinson and the significance of his achievement.  But other than a very brief epilogue, Simon offers very little about the rest of Robinson’s remarkable baseball career or his life as a champion of civil rights in the United States.  He’s told only half the story.

A longtime radio journalist with NPR, Simon’s writing style reflects his roots.  He writes like he talks on the air—generally short sentences with not much detail, but easy to follow.

Abuse and Threats

Simon pulls no punches relating the horrific abuse Robinson and his wife endured that season and the years preceding. For example, he cites 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.

A Good Story About A Summer of Baseball

The book is not entirely about the racial issues associated with Robinson’s jump to the major leagues.  Obviously a big baseball fan, Simon devotes considerable space to Robinson’s performance on the field and its impact on the Dodgers during that one summer of 1947. 

Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball is a worthwhile read as an introduction, but you may find yourself wanting more information than Simon has to offer.

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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.”

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