Full Description
The real and painful struggles of the black players who followed Jackie Robinson into major and minor league baseball from 1947 through 1968 are chronicled in this compelling volume. Players share their personal and often heart-wrenching stories of intense racism, both on and off the field, mixed with a sometimes begrudged appreciation for their tremendous talents. Stories include incidents of white players who gave up promising careers in baseball because they wouldn't play with a black teammate, the Georgia law that forbade a black player from dressing in the same clubhouse as the white players, the quotas for the number of blacks on a team, and how salary negotiations without agents or free agency were akin to a plantation system for both black and white players. The 20 players profiled include Ernie Banks, Alvin Jackson, Charlie Murray, Chuck Harmon, Frank Robinson, Bob Gibson, Hank Aaron, Curt Flood, Lou Brock, and Bob Watson.
Contents
Equal But Separate: Before Jackie Changed Everything; He Made His Own History: Monte Irvin Might Have Been First; Second, and Second to None: Larry Doby Bears the Burden with Grace; A Closed World Opens Up: Ed Charles Finds There Is a Chance; Worse Than You Imagine: Mudcat Grant Dodged the Bullets; Looking Back with Regret: Ernie Banks Was Playing Baseball; The Pinstripes Go Black and White: Elston Howard Hid the Pain; You Know You Go in the Back Door: Alvin Jackson Reports to Spring Training; I'm No Jackie Robinson: Too Much Bigotry for Charlie Murray; Recognition 50 Years Later: Chuck Harmon Gets His Own Street; Sometimes People Live and Learn: Maury Wills Finds a White Ally; Forever Is Not Too long to Wait: Emmett Ashford Umpires Alone; Most Valuable Attitude: Frank Robinson Made Them Better; The Best of Them Don't Always Understand: Tommy Davis Reminds the Dodgers of their Heritage; Living Up to His Own Image: Bob Gibson Overcomes the Stereotype; Joan of Arc of Baseball: Curt Flood Sacrifices His Career; Breaking That Record and Bigoted Hearts: Henry Aaron Sets the Record; What Would Jackie Do: Dusty Baker Finds His Answers; Coping with the Ever-Present Danger: Lou Brock Outsmarted the Threats.
