Gabriel Schechter is a research associate at The National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum. I believe his specialty in baseball education program at the museum will provide valuable information for my project. It is critical to understand the environment of professional baseball since it is a major American sports. Through baseball, we can see how people (both black and white) are willing to open their hearts to accept a minority into their sports.
Here is a transcript of the interview:
Q: What’s people’s perception about Jackie Robinson as a player and as a person before he broke into the Major League Baseball?
A: The perceptions of him as a player were all very positive. He was not regarded as the best player in the Negro Leagues, or even one of the very top players, but a very solid player. When he played in Montréal, he was one of the most valuable players in the league. So his arrival in the Major League was greatly anticipated by fans and the press. In baseball, no matter what of a player’s personal quality might be, the main thing that people judge a player by is how he does on the field and certainly in the case of Robinson. I’ve been able to find a few accounts of his debut in the Major League, and almost exclusively they talked about how he did on the field. In the early games, they did not judge him in advance as a player. They waited to see what he would do although he didn’t have a great first game. He got quite a lot of approval in the press for the way he played. As you know, he was the rookie of the year in the National League that season. So he impact as a player was extremely impressive. And the press focused on those parts.
As a person, my impression is that the newspapers naturally noted that this fine Negro player was playing. But they didn’t seem to focus on the race question.
For the black press, this is the greatest thing for them…it was a much bigger thing for the black press than for the white press. I think the white tended to reserve the judgment on him. I saw a good quote by Jimmy Cannon who was a well-know writer in New York who visited Robinson in the hotel room. Jimmy Cannon on the New York Post called Robinson “the loneliest man I have ever seen in sports.” Because he was unable to interact socially with his team, he was of course still subject to the segregation wherever he went. He was isolated in the hotel room, at home he was isolated with his family. The other factor is that Branch Ricky had instructed Robinson to keep him low profile. Rickey didn’t want to make an issue of race. Ricky just wanted him to be a ball player. Part of Rickey’s formula for that, it was a kind of passive resistance to the racism and segregation that Robinson encountered. You can wonder whether this helped Robinson played better or whether it hurt him, distracted him, or whether he would’ve been a better player than he is…allow to fight back early on, you can speculate about that…but certainly the way his career went, the way he was accepted despite the obstacles, you have to say Rickey probably has a great formula.
Q: What happened in Philadelphia?
A: When Brooklyn went to other cities in the league, fans were really against Brooklyn to begin with. In Philadelphia, he met more hostilities than any place else in the league. Philadelphia manager Ben Chapman was a Southerner and a racist. He instructed his players to verbally abuse Robinson. As soon as Robinson was out on the field, they were screaming at him…every other racist and intimidating expression they can come up with...of course upset Robinson, and upset his teammates on the side…Chapman never regretted doing it. His defense was that "we harassed all of opposing players…"
Q: How did media cover that incident?
A: The media were referred to it indirectly. The reaction to what Chapman did was so strong; the fans sitting in the stand behind the dugout can hear what was going on. Brooklyn was outraged. It was ranged by team officials to have Robinson and Chapman post together for photograph that the newspapers were publish. They agreed to do that although they both putting their hands on back together. Not actually shaking hands because Chapman wouldn’t shake hands with him. Their expressions were kind of chilling in the photograph but they did have this photo taken together…sort of making peace although they didn’t. That was a strange use of media to create the impression that everything was ok.
Q: If Robinson played for a team in another city, such as Boston and Philadelphia, do you think that he would receive the same treatment from the New York press? Or better or worse?
A: He was in New York City, specifically in Brooklyn which was a much integrated environment that helped his reception…without knowing other places, it’s probably true that Brooklyn is about the most welcoming place for him.
Summary:
Gabriel doesn’t want to judge other cities without knowing the environment well. However, based on the reputation of places, such as Boston and St. Louis, where has a strong history of discrimination and racism, he would like to think that Brooklyn provided Robinson the most welcoming environment to be the first black player in the Major League Baseball since 1884. This interview helps me to understand the overall environment and attitude in professional baseball toward Robinson. The city of New York and members of Dodgers are the first to welcome Robinson while other teams still express their resistance to accept a talented player who happens to be black.
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