The game of baseball survived the Depression, two World Wars and witnessed Joe DiMaggio’s unattainable 56-game hitting streak and some of the most bizarre moments like the hapless St. Louis Browns winning the pennant. Baseball may have been America’s pastime, but in name only; the only way the sport could truly be American was if every American had a chance to play the old game. After years of denial, those doors finally opened on a spring afternoon at Brooklyn’s historic Ebbets Field.
65 years later, we look back at arguably the most important event in baseball history: April 15, 1947, when the colour barrier was forever broken in Major League Baseball.
When Dodgers president Branch Rickey informed those close to him of his plan to sign a black ballplayer, he received an abundance of criticism. Yet, Rickey began his search and when he found a strong, determined young athlete named Jackie Robinson, the foundation was set. Of course, it wasn’t that simple. Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, who had been baseball’s commissioner for a quarter-century, unequivocally barred black players from participating in his league. However, when Landis suddenly died in 1944, his replacement, Albert “Happy” Chandler entered as his predecessor’s polar opposite. Jovial and gregarious, Chandler was open to integration and with that, Branch Rickey had the green light to make baseball history.
As the architect, Rickey had (Dodgers manager) Leo Durocher as his director and Mr. Robinson as his central character surrounded by a majority of reluctant cast mates, who shared little or no desire to share the stage with a black man. Nevertheless, Rickey was unfazed. He signed Jackie Robinson to a contract, sending him to Montreal for a stint with Brooklyn’s minor-league affiliate before moving him up to the big club just in time for the start of the 1947 season.
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Prior to signing Robinson, Rickey met with his protégé in his office. Rickey sat his new star down and told him that for three years, Robinson would have to turn the other cheek in the face of such rabid racial abuse from fans, players and managers alike. Rickey went as far as calling Robinson every name in the book and if Robinson could handle that, he could play for his team. Despite being notorious for having such a hot temper from his days as a multi-sport athlete at UCLA, Robinson was determined to make his tenure in Brooklyn a lasting one. Robinson signed his contract — but the battle was far from over.
Upon learning of the impending arrival of their new teammate, a vast majority of Dodgers began a petition to keep Robinson off the team. The petition had picked up a fair bit of volition before it fell into the hands of shortstop and team captain Harold “Pee Wee” Reese. Despite growing up in segregated Kentucky, Reese was vehemently against the petition and, although his decision angered some friends and family members, stood his ground and welcomed his new teammate. Many believe it was Reese’s stand that stopped the petition although, when hearing about it, manager Leo Durocher tore into his players — but not before first tearing up the petition. Reese’s stand was not only seen then, but shortly after during a game at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field.
In May 1947 just weeks into Robinson’s tour of duty with the Dodgers, fans in Cincinnati pelted the field with debris not to mention a plethora of racial taunts and threats. As a result, Reese took it upon himself to walk over to Robinson and put his arm around him, making a bold stand during a time when this sort of camaraderie was simply unheard of. Reese’s arm around Robinson was so significant that the moment was immortalized over a half-century later by a statue unveiled at the entrance of Coney Island’s KeySpan Park.
As we celebrate the 65th anniversary of the most monumental event in baseball history, we can appreciate how far all sports have come since that day. Being reduced to eat homemade fried chicken out of a shoebox on the back of a sweltering bus while his white teammates ate in the fanciest restaurants, Jackie Robinson never gave up. He took the burden placed on his shoulders and persevered, knowing that his entrance into Major League Baseball would change the national pastime forever.
What would become of players like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Frank Robinson and Reggie Jackson had Jackie Robinson never had the intestinal fortitude to do what he did? When he died in 1972 at the age of 53, Jackie Robinson looked like a man pushing 90. Frail, white-haired, walking with a cane, pathologists may have said that he died of diabetes, while many more believe that Jackie Robinson died from the enormous burden he carried.
Bobby Bragan, one of the many Dodgers who championed said petition to keep Robinson from joining their team, clashed with Branch Rickey upon learning the news of signing Robinson. Rickey never relented and Bragan, the native of racially-hostile Birmingham, Alabama, changed his tune shortly afterwards accepting Robinson as his teammate. When Rickey passed away in late 1965, Bragan showed up to his funeral, justifying his decision to attend, “Branch Rickey made me a better man.”
On Jackie Robinson’s grave reads “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Jackie Robinson may have been taken from this world far too early and the onus of breaking baseball’s colour barrier may have factored into that in a very significant way. But Jackie Robinson made it possible for so many black players, young and old, in all walks of life, to realize the everlasting hope and the all-too-real fact that all humans are created equal — and Mr. Robinson proved that.
On this day, we don’t mourn the premature death of an American icon or seethe at all the unfathomable hatred and abuse said icon received. Instead, we celebrate one man’s vision and another man’s determination. On April 15, 1947, baseball stood above the fray, left its mark and from that day forward, was never the same again.
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Ryan Cowley writes sports for Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter @RyanACowley.
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