Carrying Jackie's Torch: The Players Who Integrated Baseball--and America [Hardcover]

Steve Jacobson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2007

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Veteran Newsday sports reporter Jacobson sticks mainly to the facts in this story of the African-American players who followed Jackie Robinson's lead into the major leagues. In his portraits of these 19 greats—who range from stars like Hank Aaron to lesser-knowns such as Mudcat Grant and Ed Charles—Jacobson bemoans the fate of so many might-have-beens and celebrates the success of the lucky few who actually received their just rewards. The hardships were legion, with almost every player recounting the difficulties of traveling a segregated country in the pre–civil rights era, when black athletes often couldn't patronize the same restaurants or the same hotels as their white teammates. In 1962 the St. Louis Cardinals helped bust down Jim Crow laws in Florida by buying their own hotel in St. Petersburg to avoid the problem during spring training. Although Jacobson's pen is a pedestrian one, he imparts a good many details on almost every page, due to the incomparable character of the men gathered in this honor roll of bravery. (Jan.)
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Review

"A significant piece of baseball and American history. Revealing, moving, and long overdue."  —Bob Costas, sports announcer, NBC-TV

"This is a story that we need to continually tell. It goes beyond baseball, it goes beyond America." —Ken Burns, award-winning filmmaker, Baseball

"Brings forth...a missing link between the fragmentary integration of baseball, beginning with Jackie Robinson's dramatic arrival, and today's conditions."  —Marvin Miller, retired executive director, Major League Baseball Players Association

"For all fans who appreciate well-told stories of perseverance and inspiration."  —Tom Verducci, senior writer, Sports Illustrated

"A must-read for baseball fans...a chronicle of a nation in transition with black ballplayers as courageous agents of change."  —Mike Bevans, executive editor, Sports Illustrated

"A valuable new book."  —The New York Times

"Recommended."  —Library Journal

"An important work for all baseball fans and historians."  —New York Daily News

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Lawrence Hill Books; 1St Edition edition (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556526393
• ISBN-13: 978-1556526398
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #883,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

From the time I learned to read, I loved reading about sports because that told me how people reasponded to stress and, unlike war, nobody got killed. When I graduated from Indiana University I did my two years in the army playing baseball and writing propaganda and came out looking for a job in media. My first taste of the big time was covering the Bill Mazeroski World Series for Newsday.
For the next 45 years I have watched athletes--male and female--responding to pressure, both succeeding and failing. I covered World Series, Super Bowl, NBA and NHL championships, Final Fours, Indianapolis and NASCAR, and the atrocities of Little League and high school sports. I found common human elements in all. Twice, what I found, led to my nomination for the Pulitzer Prize.

All the while I was hearing the stories of how black athletes had to endure so much injustice, which led me to interview and collect what went into "Carrying Jackie's Torch." What I learned stunned me and I tried to pass on to the reader things that have been hidden by time. Those events and cruelty should not be forgotten.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An ugly and shameful period of baseball, July 29, 2007

By 

Barry Sparks "freelance writer" (York, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Carrying Jackie's Torch: The Players Who Integrated Baseball--and America (Hardcover)

Even though former New York Mets outfield Vic Coleman proclaimed, "I don't know no Jackie Robinson and I don't care to," baseball fans surely know the story of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier.

All baseball fans, however, would do themselves a favor by reading this book about the other black players who integrated baseball. Integrating the game wasn't accomplished when Robinson stepped into the Dodgers' lineup in 1947. Black players suffered humiliating treatment in the minors and the major leagues for many years.

Jacobson, a sports reporter and columnist for Newsday for 44 years, brings together the experiences of 19 black players for a powerful testament to an ugly and shameful period of history and sports.

Jacobson tells the story of famous players such as Bob Gibson, Ernie Banks, Elston Howard, Frank Robinson, Hank Aaron and Lou Brock, as well as lesser known players such as Charlie Murray (Eddie's brother), Alvin Jackson and Ed Charles. No player (or person) should have endured what they did.

As a kid following baseball in the 1960s, I had no idea what black players had to endure. It didn't make any difference to us if a player was black or white. After reading this book, I have a lot more respect for their accomplishments and character.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, 5+++ Stars!, May 26, 2007

By 

Granten Lee (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Carrying Jackie's Torch: The Players Who Integrated Baseball--and America (Hardcover)

I love to read, but I've had trouble for a while staying focused on a book and finishing it. I

love those books that once you pick them up, you can't put them down. This was one of those books.

The title is VERY appropriate. Recently, I got in an online debate about why Larry Doby was

seemingly ignored during the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking the color barrier in

baseball. I think Larry Doby was a great man to his country (a WWII vet), to his family (remembered as

a good husband and father) and to the game (elected to HOF, 1998) but he was no Jackie Robinson. So many of the men in this book talk about how Jackie guided them and how they looked to him for inspiration.

I think some people today feel that racism is something you only find in a history book, that the struggles black players faced back then don't happen today. I was shocked to find out in this book that Ken Griffey Jr. was targeted by racist hecklers in Bakersfield, CA in 1988. In fact, he wasn't able to leave the park by himself that day because the racists were waiting for him in the parking lot.

I'm African-American. Reading this book did not make me bitter... it only gave me a true appreciation for these men and the crosses they bore to live out the American Dream while they played the National Pastime. And there is no rule that says blacks HAVE to play Major League baseball but I am always glad to see the legacy of Jackie Robinson continue, especially by those who do it with excellence and integrity.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Carrying Jackie's Torch, December 22, 2007

By 

Francis Seidlinger "the ol' ump" (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Carrying Jackie's Torch: The Players Who Integrated Baseball--and America (Hardcover)

Being a Hank Aaron bibliographer, I found this work to be an excellent acknowledgment of African-American players who were able to play MLB. It is unfortunate that so many of the Negro League greats were unable to do so! Another great read! relevant to the younger generation of fan.