AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > April > 17 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USRobinson’s allies deserve credit for roles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Throughout the celebration of the anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s arrival in Major League Baseball, the two individuals responsible for it were rarely brought to mind. One was the commissioner, later fired before he served out his full term, the other a skilled and crafty club operator bold enough to take the plunge. One, Happy Chandler. The other, Branch Rickey.
Even though Chandler was bounced from office at an owners’ uprising in 1951, students of baseball history find it strange that he is installed in the Hall of Fame. There were two determining factors — one, that he was commissioner when the color line was broken; and two, that Bowie Kuhn took it upon himself to do it when he became commissioner. It wasn’t an act that popularized Kuhn, for his term came to an abrupt end shortly afterward. He accepted it as a duty that baseball owed the one-time senator-governor who was wont to burst out into the lyrics of “My Old Kentucky Home” at any given moment.
Rickey ran the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson wasn’t the first black player he had auditioned. Two players from the Negro Leagues were given tryouts when the Dodgers trained at West Point during World War II but didn’t make it. When Robinson came along, Rickey moved into high gear. The story I’ve read is that he flew to Kentucky and took his case directly to Chandler at his home in Versailles. It was a serious confrontation in which Rickey convinced the commissioner that Robinson was the right man with the right talent and the right stuff to carry the torch. It was a handshake deal.
After a season on the Montreal farm club, where he was the leading hitter in the International League — and where his shortstop comrade was Al Campanis, who would later be sandbagged by Ted Koppel and Roger Kahn — the Dodgers were next, and with him playing first base they won the pennant in 1947. Then came the Yankees in the “Subway World Series,” and it caught America’s attention. It went the full seven games before the Yankees closed it out in Yankee Stadium. Robinson hit .259, drove in three runs and stole two bases. The most vivid memory of it, though, was Bill Bevens’ near no-hitter, down to the last out before Cookie Lavagetto broke it up with a hit off the right-field wall, and Ebbets Field went into a frenzy.
It was written that “it is to the credit of Chandler’s administration that permitted the brilliant matching of Rickey and Robinson that signaled baseball’s greatest moment.” This, no doubt, served Kuhn well when he made his decision to champion Chandler for Cooperstown.
It was somewhat saddening that Robinson’s tenure as a Dodger did not come to a warm and cozy parting. For some heartless reason, Jackie was traded across the river to the Giants — the hated Giants — for Dick Littlefield, a left-handed pitcher, and some pieces of silver. But Robinson never wore a Giants uniform. Soon after the trade, he sold the story of his retirement to Look Magazine for $10,000, which, as you might have imagined, ignited the New York sportswriting corps. And upset his warmest fan, his son, who was a Dodger at heart, so I read.
Kuhn, once he became commissioner, struck up a close relationship with Chandler and often had him as his guest at World Series time. So did he have Robinson in 1972, when Cincinnati opened at home against Oakland. Jackie threw out the first pitch. Nine days later he was dead, but the memory lives on and strong.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment | Categories: Braves / MLB, Furman Bisher
Comments
By Me
April 17, 2007 10:58 PM | Link to this
Like Bowie Kuhn, Happy Chandler was a disaster. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
By jim in pine mountain
April 18, 2007 5:52 AM | Link to this
This article mentions the Dodgers training in West Point during World War II. Was it West Point, GA?
By art
April 18, 2007 6:14 AM | Link to this
to say al campanis was “sandbagged” by kahn and ted koppel is simply not true. al said what exactly was in his heart. given the dodgers history with black players it’s amazing the organization still never even had black full-time third base coach.
By Gene
April 18, 2007 9:14 AM | Link to this
It was a discredit to Robinson to have Barry Bonds wearing his number.
By TheSouthernJackAss
April 18, 2007 11:44 AM | Link to this
Who cares??…Bisher—what a pathetic attempt at a Terence Moore reverse-racism end around!…
By Jon
April 18, 2007 11:59 AM | Link to this
It’s about time someone decided to give credit to those who deserve it. All due respect to Jackie, he didn’t put himself into the show. Somebody decided to put Jackie on the field.
By A Government Worker
April 18, 2007 12:50 PM | Link to this
Why don’t we get the day off for Jackie Robinson day???
By alan from Atlanta GA.
April 18, 2007 5:31 PM | Link to this
I saw Jackie Robinson play back in the 1950’s, he was a great player. By the time Walter [May he burn in Hell for Eternity] went to trade Robinson, his legs were going and they had Junior Gilliam to replace him. Jackie Robinson did the honorable thing and retired. The Giants were the NL arch enemies of the Dodgers and Jackie refused to become a traitor and play for them. In response to Jon, Branch Rickey, when he was sober decided it made sense to have a Black ballplayer. Brooklyn was changing racially after WW 2 and to keep crods coming it had to integrate. Growing up in Brooklyn, it seemed no big deal to a kid like myself to have Black players on the team. Roy Campanella walked with me through the rotunda, Don Newcombe pushed me out of the way. I remember seeing Satchel Paige pitch on tv and wondering why the older man had not pitched years ago. I’m sorry to digress, but it was Branch Rickey and the fans in Brooklyn who accepted him as a baseball player. He was so good, I remember seeing him steal home. Wish there was that kind of excitment in baseball now.
By alan from Atlanta GA.
April 18, 2007 5:40 PM | Link to this
By the way I meant Walter [May he Burn in Hell] O’malley owner of the dodgers.
By DTM
April 18, 2007 5:46 PM | Link to this
Maybe I misread the intent of this article, but it seems right on the money to me. It takes nothing away from Jackie, but also tells the story of the old white dudes willing to do the right thing and promote on talent, while realizing the need to integrate was also overdue.