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Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy

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Professor Tygiel's book is the definitive work on the importance of Jackie Robinson to American history. Tygiel writes a well-researched, dynamic narrative that illustrates Robinson's incredible achievements and strength of character. This book, unlike others on Robinson, focuses on the years before and after 1947 as well. By doing this, Tygiel reveals the impact of Robinson's achievement in the context of the emerging civil rights movement. Jackie Robinson's story was not his alone- it was the story of the ballplayers who came after him. The book also shows how Robinson's courageous seasons personified the changing American conscience regarding race in the post-war era.

I purchased this book to learn more about Jackie Robinson and his relationship with Branch Rickey. Jules Tygiel gave me that (in an unbiased, thorough manner with great historical perspective) and then some! I gained an increased appreciation for the role of the Negro Leagues in the development of Major League baseball. I gained insight into the changing perceptions of baseball management, players and fans toward African-Americans and their contributions to the game. I was momentarily transported to that time, not as long ago as I would have thought, where non-white players were treated as second-class citizens. It was really an eye-opener. In addition, Mr. Tygiel's style was so honest and even-handed that I can't wait to read his book, "Past Time: Baseball As History," which I ordered today!

This scholarly yet readable look at baseball integration from 1947-1959 goes well beyond the inspiring story of Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey. Author Jules Tygiel also informs about such secondary figures as Larry Doby, Bill Veeck, Hank Aaron, Pumpsie Green, etc. Tygiel shows that integration proceeded slowly and in the face of strong resistance - the Boston Red Sox didn't add a black player until 1959, three years after Jackie Robinson retired. We also see how baseball integration spurred civil rights, while hastening the end of the Negro Leagues. I'd have liked more coverage of baseball's declining attendance after 1949 (probably caused by television), and the suspected correlation between athletic dominance and underclass poverty. Still, BASEBALL'S GREAT EXPERIMENT is a well-researched look at an interesting period in sports history.

This is the book from which John McCain and his ghost writer "borrowed" most of the content, both of facts and of rhetoric, for the first chapter of McCain's "Hard Call". The ghost does acknowledge Tygiel, but merely in passing.

And this is surely the deepest historical biography of any sports figure ever written. Jules Tygiel is a professor of history at San Francisco State University, and the author of a fine dispassionate biography of Ronald Reagan, as well as the book "Baseball As History", which quite brilliantly examines the culture of America in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries through the lens of baseball.

You can read "Baseball's Great Experiment" simply for pleasure, as a baseball lover, or you can read it for historical insight, which it offers aplenty. It's a great irony that baseball and the army were integrated meaningfully long before corporate business, the mainline Christian churches, the federal bureaucracy, or academia!

Tygiel writes firm straight-forward prose, with a minimum of sermonizing (McCain's big fault as a writer) or academic pomposity. His portrayals of Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson are well-rounded and believable, with both their strengths and their weaknesses. Even if you have a total indifference to baseball, you'll find the human drama fascinating.

As for yours truly... Do it again, Red Sox!

I have a better understanding of integregation and how it affected every American no matter what his race or beliefs. Baseball was a pioneering vechicle for social questioning and challenged many men other than Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson into greatness. They were courageous men who had to fight convention and who lead other Americans to follow their example. I realize the impact integration had on everyone involved Black or White: the team owners, the players, broadcasters, vendors, and families. Many individuals sacrificed to improve their freedom and the freedom given to other humans. Mr. Rickey and Mr. Robinson are not portrayed as mythological figures but rather as real men I can respect more because they are like all of us. I am convinced that Mr. Robinson endured because he had strong character and determination and he believed in "the experiment." I feel I know him better now that I know more about his struggles and triumphs. I kept reading because everything was explained simply and with logic and with an absence of bias.

THis is a wonderful book that I can't praise enough. If you - like me - have been putting off reading about Jackie Robinson and the other black baseball pioneers of the late 1940's and 1950's, this is the book for you. It's a shocking description of just what life was like for blacks at that time. It's a real eye-opener that needs to be read by all baseball fans and all students of American history.

This is the seminal work on this subject and is important for an understanding of race relations in this country, as well as the transformation of baseball into the game as we know it today.

Author Jules Tygiel describes "Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy," as "Not a biography of Jackie Robinson, but rather a broad social history of the integration process in baseball." Naturally, Robinson plays a central role in the story.

In the afterword of the 25th anniversary edition of the classic work, Tygiel stresses that the book is also the history of the Negro Leagues, the campaign to end segregation in baseball, the experiences of other African Americans and non-White Hispanic players in both the minor and major leagues.

The segregation of baseball is a sad chapter in its history. In 1942, Baseball Commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis said there was no rule of any kind prohibiting Negroes from playing in the major leagues. Baseball blamed other parties and circumstances beyond their control for the absence of Negroes in the majors. Baseball executive Larry MacPhail blamed the absence of Blacks on ignorant protesters, inadequate black athletes and the greedy Negro Leagues.

Unbelievably, in 1945 The Sporting News stated there was "not a single Negro player with major league possibilities." Around the same time, Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller said he could not see any future in major league baseball for Jackie Robinson.

World War II and the integration of the armed forces was the watershed in the struggle for civil rights, according to Tygiel. The efforts of black sportswriters, the Communist Party and a handful of white sportswriters helped open the door to integration.

Robinson was the right man to integrate baseball because he was "tough, intelligent and proud." Under terrific pressure while playing for Montreal in the International League in 1946, Robinson passed the test with a superb performance. He led the league in batting average and runs and was second in stolen bases.

Robinson faced many challenges during his rookie season with the Dodgers in 1947, but he met them on and off the field. By the end of the year, he was voted Rookie of the Year and the second most popular man in America (only behind Bing Crosby) in a national poll.

Robinson opened the doors for players such as Roy Campanella, Don Newcombe, Luke Easter, Monte Irvin and Hank Thompson. Many black players such as Piper Davis and Ray Danridge, however, were denied the full means of fame they deserved.

Even after Robinson broke the color barrier, black players had to endure discrimination and despicable behavior through the 1950s and 1960s, particularly in the minor leagues. As Tygiel notes, "most teams headed down the begrudging path to integration."

Every serious baseball fan should read this book.

I RECEIVED THE BOOK IN EXCELLENT CONDITION AND IN A TIMELY MANNER. GOOD JOB.
T[[ASIN:0195339282 Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy]
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