A celebration of the individual

Waterbury Republican-American ^ | April 8, 2013 | Chris Powell

[Graybeard58]

Hollywood comes out this week with "42," its first feature movie on the life of Jackie Robinson since the hero himself starred in "The Jackie Robinson Story" in 1950. Despite the 63 years between the movies, Robinson's is an oft-told tale, always at risk of being too self-congratulatory and smug, of celebrating the country's getting over race. But the new movie looks like it may at least depict the great drama of a time when no one really knew what would become of the Robinson experiment — the fearless Robinson provocation, actually, engineered by baseball executive Branch Rickey.

In any case, heroes and villains in film and literature help teach new generations right and wrong, and maybe, just as important, how much work it is for right to prevail.

When Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, his achievement, Brooklyn-born journalist Pete Hamill wrote, was less a matter of integrating the game than of integrating the grandstands: "Everyone was joined in the rough democracy of the upper deck. ... Which is to say he started integrating his country, our country. And so when Robinson jittered off second base, upsetting the enemy pitcher, the number 42 sending signals of possible amazements, we all roared. Whites and blacks: roaring for Robinson."

"The Jackie Robinson Story" portrayed this change somewhat comically, through an oafish everyman character, a Brooklyn baseball fan who, knowing no black people, thinks he doesn't like them and is almost ready to help some thugs lynch Robinson. But he sees the black man playing so well for his favorite team that he begins to question the benefits of hate. For this fan, getting over his bigotry was just a matter of a few crucial runs scored or batted in. How could he hate someone who might help bring a championship to Brooklyn?

A more cynical account of baseball's transformation, if not the country's, may have been provided by the manager of the Dodgers in 1947, the obstreperous Leo Durocher, who is said to have smashed a player rebellion against Robinson with this tirade: "I don't care if the guy is yellow or black or if he has stripes like a @#*$%!& zebra. I'm the manager of this team and I say he plays. What's more, I say he can make us all rich. And if any of you can't use the money, I'll see that you're all traded."

Sure enough, becoming a sensation and rookie of the year, Robinson set his ballclub's financial prospects soaring — and all of baseball's too, as fans everywhere wanted to see what he was all about.

Even after a dozen tellings, it is hard not to be moved by the new film's portrayal of the famous exchange between Robinson and Rickey as they negotiated his hiring:

"You want a player that doesn't have the guts to fight back?"

"No, I want a player who's got the guts not to fight back."

"You give me a uniform. You give me a number on my back. I'll give you the guts."

In not fighting back, in refraining from violence even in self-defense, but in still refusing to be intimidated or deterred, Robinson set the path of the civil-rights movement that was to be led by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Back then, rooting for the Dodgers was not just a matter of local loyalty in Brooklyn but, elsewhere in the country, a political act — a matter of casting one's lot with the proletariat and racial justice, and even more than that, with individuality. It was a decade-long moment, the golden age of New York baseball, and "42" seems to have beautifully re-created the lost shrine of Ebbets Field.

Is baseball even the national pastime anymore? "Baseball is what we were," Mary McGrory wrote, "and football is what we've become." Maybe "42" will remind the country that at least individuality is still an option.

[Graybeard58]

I never cared much for Robinson when I was a kid. It didn't have anything to do with the color of his skin though, it was just when he played against my St. Louis Cardinals and did things to beat them that bothered me.

[re_nortex]

Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey: Little-Known Facts About Their Devout Methodism & Political Conservatism.

[justiceseeker93]

As one who saw Robinson play in person at Ebbets Field and on the tube in the final years of his career, I'm looking forward to the film. Unfortunately, the Robinson I saw was not quite the player I was told he had been in his earlier years, being slowed by a weight problem and leg injuries. Still, he was the best I've ever seen as a baserunner eluding a trap between bases.

BTW, I believe that yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the first National League game ever played at Ebbets Field.

[justiceseeker93]

I knew Robinson was a Republican, a “moderate” Rockefeller Republican as I recall. He and New York Governor Rockefeller were close in the 1960s.

[GOP_Party_Animal]

Why on earth would I want to sit in a theater for two hours to be lectured on how evil white people are? No thanks.

[justiceseeker93]

Why on earth would I want to sit in a theater for two hours to be lectured on how evil white people are? No thanks.

Without having seen the picture, I can't tell you how much emphasis is placed on the evilness of white people there. But obviously, if it has any historical accuracy, it can't be a condemnation of white people as a whole. Most definitely, there were white people who helped make Robinson's story a success, especially the Dodgers' general manager Branch Rickey whose idea it was to allow a black baseball player on his team after the game had been completely segregated since the 1800s. So a white guy is going to be a co-hero in this, at least it would seem. There were also those of his white teammates who helped by challenging detractors, and likewise white supporters of the team. Best to give the film's creators the benefit of the doubt for now, until we have a chance to see it for ourselves.

[OnlyTurkeysHaveLeftWings]

Considering the movie has Branch Rickey, Leo Durocher, and Pee Wee Reese, I’m not sure it’ll happen the way you say it will.

We’ll find out Friday.