Minutes before the Tampa Bay Rays played the Cuban National team in a historic game in Havana on March 23, President Obama greeted and hugged Rachel Robinson, the 93-year-old widow of the late Jackie Robinson.
Rachel and daughter Sharon Robinson were part of the official delegation to travel with the Obama family on Air Force One to Cuba. Jackie Robinson’s legacy is still revered on the island nation, in part because the Brooklyn Dodgers moved Spring Training to Havana in 1947.
Robinson’s mere presence on the team led to threats of violence in Jacksonville, Florida. Citing segregation laws, a stadium in Jacksonville would not host a game featuring the Dodgers’ top minor-league team, the Montreal Royals, because Robinson would play. Robinson would make the Dodgers’ roster, and history was written weeks later on April 15, 1947.
Black players had been part of Cuba’s winter league baseball since the 1900 season, and Cubans and African Americans had played and managed in Cuba without controversy. Negro League stars including Oscar Charleston, Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige played in Cuba. During the 1947 Spring Training, black and white Cuban all-star teams played against the Dodgers.
Ninety-nine miles to the north in the U.S., baseball integration would not be tolerated at youth, high school and college levels years after Robinson took the field with the Dodgers. Most MLB teams, including the Cardinals, would not field a black player for years,
The Dodgers were still practicing racial bias during 1947, as well.
In “Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season,” author Jonathan Eig wrote that Robinson and black colleagues with the Dodgers’ party were housed at “a dive” called The Hotel Los Angeles. The rest of the team stayed at the integrated and palatial Hotel Nacional. The Dodgers did not want to upset the white patrons of the Nacional by putting black men in rooms there.
“Robinson complained about it when he learned the choice was made by the Dodgers, but he grudgingly went along,” according to Eig.
On April 11-12, PBS will air filmmaker Ken Burns’ two-part, four-hour documentary “Jackie Robinson.” Its subtitle is “If you only know the legend, you don’t know the man.” It will be shown here at 8 p.m. on KETC Channel 9.
The film will examine Robinson’s life from youth to his untimely death due to complications from diabetes. His years at UCLA and service in the military – where he also faced racism – are integral parts of the story. It will also illuminate how Robinson went from hero to “Uncle Tom” in some black Americans’ eyes because he did not embrace the direction of the Civil Rights Movement in the late 1960s.
Of course, Branch Rickey’s drive to find the right black player and the right time for the Dodgers is a major part of the documentary. Hopefully, the film will not follow the MLB tradition of hearty congratulations to itself for allowing a black player to take the field without apology for decades of segregation.
No black Cards on deck
Like all teams on April 15, the St. Louis Cardinals will wear Jackie Robinson’s No. 42 during the home game against the Cincinnati Reds. Currently, the Redbirds have no black players on the 25-man roster, which again will make for awkward moments during the pregame celebration.
Maybe Lou Brock will be called upon to say a few words, or Bob Gibson or Ozzie Smith – all Hall of Famers.
Maybe the Reds will lend us one of their black players – outfielder Billy Hamilton, pitcher Keyvious Sampson or second baseman Brandon Phillips – for a few minutes of pregame festivities.
Rams reap some rewards
The Los Angeles Rams will be featured on HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” this summer. It’s debatable whether that is a good or bad thing, but it will bring the franchise much-needed exposure as it attempts to find its niche in L.A.’s crowded sports and social world.
More than 56,000 people or businesses slapped down $100 for the right to purchase season tickets for the upcoming seasons at The L.A. Memorial Coliseum. That’s $5.6 million. Tickets for two preseason and seven regular season games (the Rams play a home game in London) range in price from $360 to $2,025. The prices will skyrocket in three years when the new Inglewood stadium opens.
Kevin Demoff, “the Rams executive, who oversaw the arduous relocation process that in January culminated in the NFL approving the team’s move from St. Louis,” is a member of the Sports Business Journal Class of 2016 “40 under 40” honorees. Demoff, 39, said of St. Louis, “As you are trying to build a stadium elsewhere and rebuild a team, either you are going to end up tremendously disappointed or your fans are. It is a really difficult position. I feel terrible for the fans, and the city; everyone.”
Rams owner Stan Kroenke is a Sports Business Journal “Executive of the Year” nominee. He is joined by Brian France, NASCAR; Joe Lacob, Golden State Warriors owner, Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball commissioner and Mark Parker, Nike CEO.
Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook and appears on ABC’s The Allman Report and several sports radio shows. His Twitter handle is @aareid1.
