“Perhaps I do look bad on a curve”: “Higbe Tackles Former Flock Mates Tonight,” Brooklyn Eagle, May 16, 1947.

  “The guys on the team are all for him”: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 24, 1947.

  CHAPTER TWELVE: “A SMILE OF ALMOST PAINFUL JOY”

  “I Am an American Day”: “Edw. G. Robinson in American Day Rally,” Chicago Herald American, May 17, 1947.

  Not since 1930: “Record 46,572 See Dodgers Beat Cubs, 4–2,” Chicago Tribune, May 19, 1947.

  “Its Negro district is immense”: St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Clayton, Black Metropolis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), xxxv.

  feeling as if he and his companions: “The Racial Gap in the Grandstands,” BusinessWeek, October 2, 2006.

  “It was so exciting”: Interview with Bud Selig.

  “The telephone booths are not men’s wash rooms”: “Through the Years,” Chicago Defender, May 17, 1947.

  “As big as it was”: “Jackie’s Debut a Unique Day,” Chicago Sun-Times, October 25, 1972.

  Afterward, thousands of black fans: Parrott, The Lords of Baseball, 266.

  “as much depth as a shot of whiskey”: “Dodgers’ Hurling Woes Blamed on Rickey,” Daily News, May 21, 1947.

  spent the night at the home of: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 31, 1947.

  “We didn’t see much of him on the road”: Interview with Gene Hermanski.

  Almost every black celebrity: “Jesse Johnson, St. Louis Business Promoter, Dies,” Chicago Defender, February 23, 1946.

  about six thousand of them black: “Cardinal ‘Health Resort’ Makes Rivals Feel Better, Fans Worse,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22, 1947.

  “Robinson was cheered each time”: Ibid.

  “Watch this guy!”: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 31, 1947.

  Ralph Branca noticed: Interview with Branca.

  Bobby Bragan, one of the opponents: Interview with Bragan.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN: UP AND DOWN MACDONOUGH STREET

  took their meals at a small table: Interview with Rachel Robinson.

  their full-size bed neatly made: Ibid.

  She felt important: Ibid.

  Over on Ralph Avenue: City telephone directories; interviews with Rachel Robinson, Clarence L. Irving, et al.

  She felt isolated at times: Interview with Rachel Robinson.

  Rachel also noticed that her husband didn’t like: Ibid.

  turned to Thurgood Marshall of the NAACP: Letter from Robinson to Marshall, Library of Congress.

  he would brag about how much of the twenty-five dollars remained: Interview with Rachel Robinson.

  In Montreal, Jack and Rachel had each been: Rampersad, Jackie Robinson, 155.

  He had made up his mind: Interview with Rachel Robinson.

  she would offer a game of honeymoon bridge: Ibid.

  “active listener”: Ibid.

  once he got going, he found: Ibid.

  An old friend who was studying piano: “Mrs. Jackie Robinson,” Sports Illustrated, May 1949.

  Sometimes as a child she had felt: Interview with Rachel Robinson.

  “The excitement, the joy”: Ibid.

  “We were very, very much in love”: Ibid.

  “a battle was underway for Harlem’s patronage”: “Robinson Pulls Fans From Negro Loop Game,” Daily Mirror, May 29, 1947.

  “if Booker T. Washington himself was playing”: Ibid.

  Sidney Poitier, twenty years old: Interview with Sidney Poitier.

  on his feet, screaming: Interview with Hilton Clark.

  The Covingtons were one of those families: Interviews with Rachel Robinson, Sharon Robinson, Clarence L. Irving, et al.

  George Marchev, owner of the: Letter from Marchev to Rachel Robinson, Library of Congress.

  Brown, the black man Marchev decided: Interviews with Freddie Palmisano and Edwina Gaiser-Marchev.

  “Jackie Robinson opened the door of baseball”: Copy of Marchev’s prepared eulogy, Edwina Gaiser-Marchev.

  Jewish workers filed 43 percent: Biondi, To Stand and Fight, 16.

  “Why is this night different”: Interview with Henry Foner.

  “When Robinson came among us”: “The Year of Years,” Daily News, October 9, 2005.

  The Orange Blossom was a new restaurant: Interviews with Clarence L. Irving, Delores Squires, et al.

  “You have to remember something”: Interview with Clarence L. Irving.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN: A REAL GONE GUY

  fans started screaming: “Reiser Hurt Crashing Wall; Flock Wins, 9–4,” Daily News, June 5, 1947.

  “Hell, fellas”: “Flock Loses Reiser Services for Week,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 5, 1947.

  felt well enough to ask for a cigarette: “Reiser Hurt Crashing Wall; Flock Wins, 9–4,” Daily News, June 5, 1947.

  “What happened?”: Ibid.

  Rickey had been working out a deal: Mann, The Jackie Robinson Story, 104.

  “How ’ya doin’, Pete?”: Interview with Bobby Bragan.

  “Jackie’s nimble”: “Jackie Helps Dodgers Near Record Gate,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 31, 1947.

  the crowd rose to give Rachel and Jack Jr.: “Branca Wins in Relief Role, 6–5, After Losing, 3–1, to Cincinnati,” New York Times, June 11, 1947.

  2,000 Ladies Day “fanettes”: “Robinson Bat Blazes as Flock Plays Dead,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 12, 1947.

  “in the charmed circle to stay”: Ibid.

  Bond Bread, which used: “Diamond Confetti,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 31, 1947.

  “The St. Louis Cardinals aren’t only”: “St. Louis Pilot, Players Friendly, Helpful to Jackie,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 21, 1947.

  “Boy, if you’d hit a home run today”: Ibid.

  “Did I spike you, Jackie?”: Ibid.

  “Listen, Robinson”: Ibid.

  collapse of the Roman empire: “Dodgers Collapse Result of Casualties,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 16, 1947.

  “Shotton’s team as now constituted”: Ibid.

  “just a boy who doesn’t know what a curveball is”: “Dodgers Stop Cubs, 2–1, With Unearned Runs,” Daily News, May 17, 1947.

  when Snider complained about being made to bunt: Barber, 1947, 156.

  “I ache all over and now”: “Reiser Passing Up Hospital to Aid Desperate Dodgers,” New York Post, June 16, 1947.

  knocked himself silly again: “Reiser—The Kid They Can’t Miss,” Daily News, June 17, 1947.

  threatening to break his neck in a fair fight: “Three Cubs Fined After 2d Dodger Brawl,” Chicago Tribune, May 24, 1946.

  “I was on the bag, but I kind of leaned forward”: Interview with Lennie Merullo.

  Branch Rickey removed his coat: “Speed on Basepaths Gives Dodgers Well-Earned Verdict Over Bucs,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 25, 1947.

  Robinson’s foot was wedged: Ibid.

  Roth, too, was a rookie and an outsider: Interviews with Esther and Michael Roth.

  Shotton became a believer: Prager, The Echoing Green, 183.

  “I think that the other clubs”: “Reiser’s Dizzy Spells Worry Boss Rickey,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 24, 1947.

  “who would not fit into our plans”: “Reiser Nerves Examined; Star Has Dizzy Spells,” Daily Mirror, June 25, 1947.

  “In all my years in baseball”: “Reiser Flies to Johns Hopkins,” New York Post, June 24, 1947.

  “He is a major leaguer in every respect”: “Chapman Says Jackie Keeping Brooklyn in Race by Brilliant Playing,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 28, 1947.

  “He is ‘one of the boys’ ”: Ibid.

  “It is my deep conviction”: “Truman Demands We Fight Harder to Spur Equality,” New York Times, June 30, 1947.

  “the presence of a Negro player”: To Secure These Rights: The Report of the President’s Committee on Civil Rights (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1947), 18.

  “Say, Jackie”: “Jackie Robinson: The Great Experiment,” Sport, October 1948.

  “joked and kidded with Jackie”: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 28, 1947.

  they never approached the story: Transcript of Jerome Holtzman interview of Wendell Smith.

  “Bo Jangles of the Diamond”: “Bo Jangles of the Diamond,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 29, 1947.

  “The time has come”: “Jackie Robinson Takes Lead Role as Dodgers Walk into the Lead,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 27, 1947.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN: A GOOD THING FOR EVERYBODY

  Ben Chapman had been thoroughly cured: “Report Pirates, Phillies Seek Colored Stars,” New Jersey Afro-American, July 5, 1947.

  “We were delighted that Jackie had gotten”: Interview with Monte Irvin.

  “We were like janitors”: Ibid.

  He didn’t feel like getting back to baseball: Ibid.

  he felt a spark: Ibid.

  “They pay our boy good”: Roy Campanella, It’s Good to Be Alive (Boston: Signet, 1974), 71.

  “Mr. Rickey certainly was”: Ibid., 106.

  “I hear you went over”: Ibid., 109.

  Campanella sat dumbstruck: Ibid., 110.

  “I had not the slightest doubt”: Bill Veeck and Ed Linn, Veeck as in Wreck (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001), 171.

  “Judge Landis wasn’t exactly shocked”: Ibid.

  “I moved slowly and carefully”: Ibid., 175.

  “I am operating under the belief”: “Cleveland Buys Doby, 1st Negro in AL,” Daily News, July 4, 1947.

  “more surprised than excited”: “Doby Helps Team Win Second Game,” New Jersey Afro-American, July 12, 1947.

  The team’s two first basemen: Joseph Thomas Moore, Pride Against Prejudice (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1988), 48.

  two black men in jackets and ties: “Protection Unnecessary for Doby’s Debut,” Sporting News, July 16, 1947.

  Pete Norton of the Tampa Tribune warned: “Dixie Action on Negroes Urged,” Sporting News, July 16, 1947.

  No one was buying it: “Two Negroes Play Tonight With Browns,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 17, 1947.

  “A bunch of bums”: Interview with Bob Dillinger.

  Tom Baird, a white man: Lanctot, Negro League Baseball, 315.

  Heath grabbed the piece of lumber: James A. Riley, The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1994), 128.

  “The Browns couldn’t beat the Monarchs”: Larry Moffi and Jonathan Kronstadt, Crossing the Line (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1994), 14.

  “We were apprehensive”: Interview with Eddie Robinson.

  “Doby wasn’t prepared”: Interview with Al Rosen.

  “a complete bust”: Veeck and Linn, Veeck as in Wreck, 177.

  “There is considerable apprehension”: “Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, August 9, 1947.

  white baseball had “no right to destroy”: New York Age, November 17, 1945.

  a $2-million-a-year business: Hogan, Shades of Glory, 343.

  At Yankee Stadium, attendance: Lanctot, Negro League Baseball, 317.

  a mere thirty-eight hundred fans: “Eagles Twice Lick Elites in Baltimore,” New Jersey Afro-American, July 26, 1947.

  “We’ll hire any Negro player”: “Big Leagues Scout 10 Negro Players,” Chicago Defender, August 9, 1947.

  “You doubled your ambition”: Interview with Minnie Minoso.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE POISON PEN

  he still wasn’t even sure: “Between Two Putouts,” New York Times, January 8, 1957.

  “You’d have thought the Dodgers”: “Branca 1-Hitter Blanks Cards, 7–0, for Flock,” Daily News, July 19, 1947.

  Thirteen radio stations around the country: “14 Hits Trip Brooks,” New York Times, July 20, 1947.

  “I live in a small all negro town”: Letter to Robinson, Library of Congress.

  On occasion, a writer and his wife: Interviews with Jack Lang and Lester Rodney.

  2.4 million on weekdays: “Captain Bob’s Amazing Eleventh-Hour Rescue,” Time, March 25, 1991.

  a city kid, born in Washington Heights: Golenbock, Bums, 299.

  “the asshole of the Depression”: Ibid.

  On his fourth try, he was offered: Ibid., 300.

  Powers ran it word for word: Ibid.

  Labine challenged the writer: Ibid., 302.

  “The ballplayers called him Poison Pen”: Interview with Jack Lang.

  “This story belongs on page three”: “Giants Massacre Flock, 19–2, On 15-Hit Barrage; Gain 2d,” Daily News, July 4, 1947.

  “Wally Westlake, which is a baseball player”: “Bucks Top Flock in 2, Westlake Drives in 7 Runs in First,” Daily News, July 16, 1947.

  The headline in the Daily News went: “Dodgers Rout Lively, 12–1; 16th for Branca,” Daily News, July 23, 1947.

  “His legs are agile, his hands sure”: “Dodgers Beat Cards—In Raising Rookies,” Daily News, July 27, 1947.

  “Eef I have my good arm”: David Maraniss, Clemente (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006), 248.

  “I am positive”: Transcript of Rowan interview of Robinson, Library of Congress.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE UNBEATABLE YANKEES

  offered DiMaggio to the woeful: Richard Ben Cramer, Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), 223.

  the heel injury jolted Joe in the worst way: Ibid., 227.

  “Greatest left-handed hitter I’ve ever seen”: Halberstam, Summer of ’49, 45.

  he told manager Bucky Harris: Cramer, Joe DiMaggio, 228.

  “political and social-minded drum beaters”: Tygiel, Baseball’s Great Experiment, 83.

  Not until they found a black man worthy: Ibid., 224–25.

  Some began skipping the flights: “Yanks in Player Revolts; DiMaggio Reported Fined,” Brooklyn Eagle, May 22, 1947.

  MacPhail sent a newsreel crew on the field: “Six Yanks Balk at Publicity Stunts, Fined by M’Phail,” New York Post, May 22, 1947.

  Butler-Mitchell Boys Club collected $1.03: “Buffalo Boys’ Pennies Reduce DiMaggio’s Fine,” New York Times, May 24, 1947.

  “It would be goin’ over the shortstop’s head”: Cramer, Joe DiMaggio, 230.

  certain that his teammates distrusted: Ibid., 230–31.

  Suddenly, Page found a focus: Ibid., 231.

  dressing like his roommate: Ibid., 230–31.

  Had Page failed that day: “Page’s Pitching Major Surprise of Campaign,” New York Post, July 11, 1947.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: DIXIE WALKER’S DILEMMA

  was on the training table: “Robinson Wins in Uphill Battle for Teammates’ OK,” Boston Daily, June 28, 1947.

  “You’re improving a lot”: Ibid.

  “best friend and chief adviser”: Vincent X. Flaherty column, Los Angeles Examiner, July 12, 1947.

  “Some sports writers fall for anything”: Rachel Robinson scrapbook.

  Robinson said that Walker was the only man: Transcript of Rowan interview of Robinson, Library of Congress.

  There was a faint sense: Interviews with Branca, King, et al.

  What was the point of playing: Golenbock, Bums, 216.

  “You fellas can win the pennant: Ibid., 169.

  “Put Burt on a bench”: “About a 2d Stringer Named Burt Shotton,” Brooklyn Eagle, July 30, 1947.

  Myron Uhlberg received two tickets: Interview with Myron Uhlberg.

  “It’s not even baseball”: Ibid.

  a smattering of racist cries: “Sidelights on the Dodger-Cardinal Series,” Pittsburgh Courier, August 9, 1947.

  white men with standing-room-only tickets: Ibid.

  “this summer of our Lord 1947”: “Here to Yonder,” Chicago Defender, August 9, 1947.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN: THE FOOTSTEPS OF ENOS “COUNTRY” SLAUGHTER

  Wilder lived in Richmond: Margaret Edds, Claiming the Dream (Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 1990), 21.

  the St. Louis Cardinals were his biggest worry: Interview with Douglas Wilder.

  “the arguingest little man”: Edds, Claiming the Dream, 29.

  middle seat in the back: Interview with Wilder.

  Yet Doug had not given much thought: Ibid.

  “Wow!” said the kid: Ibid.

  “They have to beat us”: “Showdown Series at Hand as Cardinals Face Dodgers,” New York Post, August 18, 1947.

  one curve for every three fastballs: Alan Roth scorecards, Retrosheet, Inc.

  “He just thinks too much”: “Bucs Get Quick Chill, 3–1; Branca Wins 18th,” Daily News, August 25, 1947.

  Wilder and the barbershop quartet: Interview with Wilder.

  “Hit da ball, Jackie boy! Hit da ball!”: Ibid.

  “I was shocked”: Ibid.

  “What else could it have been?”: “Slaughter’s ‘Mis-step’ Draw’s Robbie’s Fire,” New York Post, August 21, 1947.

  “Jackie was lucky he wasn’t maimed”: Ibid.

  Harold Parrott, the team secretary: Ibid.

  “It took me the better part”: Interview with Wilder.

  Only four times: “Rookie of the Year . . . Jackie Robinson,” Sporting News, September 17, 1947.

  “No other player on this club”: Ibid.

  Bankhead became the inspiration for Troy Maxson: Riley, The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, 54.

  “Call me if I can help”: “Heavy Pressure on Bankhead,” New York Post, August 26, 1947.

  “It was as though he had been hit by Joe Gluttz”: “Pirates Overwhelm Flock, 16–3; Bankhead Routed, Hits HR,” Daily News, August 27, 1947.

  “It was just one of those days”: “Bankhead’s Failure in Bow Discounted,” New York Post, August 27, 1947.

  Garagiola called fastball after fastball: Interview with Joe Garagiola.

  Robinson said he did: Robinson and Smith, Jackie Robinson, 158; interview with Garagiola.

  He appeared to laugh: Photograph, Sporting News, September 24, 1947.

  He grabbed Robinson’s hand: “Jackie’s Clutch Playing Thaws Flocks’ Reserve,” Daily News, September 16, 1947.

  “I bet Robinson just a hit a home run”: “Sports Train,” People’s Voice, September 20, 1947.

  “Was that you, Papa?”: Interview with Garagiola.