81. Jackie said: Mead, p. 227.
82. No … permanent: Army Records, JRP.
83. I was told there: JR to Adjutant General, U.S. Army, Aug. 25, 1944, Army Records, JRP.
84. would only further aggravate: JR to Adjutant General, Army, Army Records, JRP.
85. inasmuch as Lieutenant Robinson: Adjutant General to Commanding General, Eighth Service Command, Sept. 26, 1944, Army Records, JRP.
86. revert to an inactive: Special Order No. 249, Fifth Service Command, Oct. 17, 1944, Army Records, JRP.
87. I had almost made: WP, Aug. 24, 1949.
88. honorably relieved from active: Army Records, JRP.
CHAPTER 6
1. I believe that my: Karleen Downs Berthel to author, interview, March 12, 1996.
2. The college was: Galveston Voice, Feb. 28, 1948.
3. Bringing Jackie Robinson: Dr. John Quill Taylor King to author, interview, July 7, 1995.
4. top team from: JR, “ ‘Your temper can ruin us!,’ ” Look, Feb. 15, 1955, p. 82.
5. everybody, everybody: Janet Bruce, The Kansas City Monarchs: Champions of Black Baseball (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1985), p. 24.
6. a Monarch never had: Buck Owens to Janet Bruce, cited in John B. Holway, Blackball Stars: Negro League Pioneers (Westport, Conn.: Meckler Books, 1988), p. 341.
7. I inquired about my: JR, “What’s Wrong with Negro Baseball?” ms., n.d., pp. 116–137, JRP.
8. the rooms were dingy: ibid.
9. lopsided game: JR, “ ‘Your temper can ruin us!,’ ” p. 82.
10. seeing the best type: ibid.
11. Jackie was able: Sammie Haynes to Spike Lee, interview, Dec. 29, 1994, JRP.
12. a very smart ball: Bruce, p. 106.
13. an average fielder: Donn Rogosin, Invisible Men: Life in Baseball’s Negro Leagues (N.Y.: Atheneum, 1983), p. 203.
14. He didn’t have that: ibid.
15. instead of the outside: Rogosin, p. 204.
16. perhaps the best curve: David Falkner, Great Time Coming: The Life of Jackie Robinson (N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, 1995), p. 121.
17. All the time I: JR as told to Wendell Smith, Jackie Robinson: My Own Story (N.Y.: Greenberg, 1948), p. 11.
18. Quickly the old-time: Rogosin, p. 85.
19. give Robinson a base: Rogosin, pp. 85–86.
20. He did not fit: Rogosin, p. 203.
21. I could never figure: JR, “ ‘Your temper can ruin us!,’ ” p. 82.
22. Well, have you been: Haynes to Spike Lee, interview.
23. I was in the outfield: Boston Herald, April 16, 1987.
24. I’m telling you: ibid.
25. What a ballplayer: ibid.
26. He said to me: ibid.
27. I wish I could: Chicago Tribune, July 28, 1994.
28. He went home: Toronto Sun, Aug. 1, 1994.
29. Could we, by any chance: Carl T. Rowan with Jackie Robinson, Wait Till Next Year (N.Y.: Random House, 1960), p. 97.
30. Negroes are not barred: Chicago Defender, July 25, 1942.
31. brandish sharp spikes: Rowan, p. 101.
32. Frankly, we were met: Chicago Tribune, July 28, 1994.
33. Why not?: Rowan, p. 104.
34. Damned skin: Arthur Mann, The Jackie Robinson Story (N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, 1951), p. 30.
35. That scene haunted me: Rowan, p. 106.
36. the most humiliating: Robert W. Peterson, Only the Ball Was White (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1970), p. 185.
37. trying to assume: Peterson, p. 187.
38. the ideal Negro star: Montreal Gazette, Oct. 24, 1945.
39. I knew most: Harold Parrott, The Lords of Baseball (N.Y.: Praeger, 1976), p. 187.
40. carefully, and when I: Donald Honig, “When Baseball Grew Up,” Reader’s Digest, August 1975, p. 151.
41. Player fell on shoulder: Mann, p. 26.
42. Hello, Jackie: Mann, p. 29.
43. I was thrilled, scared: I Never, p. 43.
44. Jack waited, and waited: L.A. Times, April 9, 1990.
45. I know you’re a good: I Never, p. 43.
46. my race, my parents: I Never, p. 46.
47. I had to do it: ibid.
48. the most stupefying: Giovanni Papini, The Life of Christ, trans. Dorothy Canfield Fisher (N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace, 1923), pp. 104–105.
49. On the telephone: Rachel Robinson, interview.
50. I was told I would: JR, “What’s Wrong with the Negro Leagues?”
51. and make one break: Branch Rickey to Arthur Mann, Oct. 7, 1945, AMP, LC.
52. Of course, I can’t: NYT, Oct. 24, 1945.
53. undoubtedly will be criticized: Montreal Gazette, Oct. 24, 1945.
54. a fine way: NYT, Oct. 24, 1945.
55. very few players: ibid.
56. They didn’t make: NYT, Oct. 26, 1945.
57. It is those of: Rowan, p. 121.
58. will not make the grade: Rowan, pp. 122–123.
59. couldn’t foresee any future: Rowan, p. 123.
60. We won’t take it: NYT, Oct. 24, 1945.
61. Rickey is no Abraham: Rogosin, p. 207.
62. The Negro league is: ibid.
63. There is no Negro: Holway, p. 342.
64. and who are being: Montreal Gazette, Oct. 24, 1945.
65. I feel that I speak: Montreal Gazette, Oct. 27, 1945.
66. it all came down: Rogosin, p. 214.
67. We’d get 300 people: Holway, p. 326.
68. did not like being: Rogosin, p. 86.
69. One day Felton Snow: ibid.
70. just a swell person: Falkner, p. 121.
71. It was my mother’s: Rachel Robinson, interview.
72. It was a lovely wedding: Robert Campbell, interview, UCLA Archives.
73. I could feel: Rachel Robinson, interview.
CHAPTER 7
1. I also compulsively spent: Rachel Robinson, interview.
2. that piece of ermine: ibid.
3. I couldn’t be sure: Carl T. Rowan with Jackie Robinson, Wait Till Next Year (N.Y.: Random House, 1960), p. 131.
4. Blacks could not eat: I Never, p. 52.
5. Jack almost exploded: Rowan, p. 132.
6. dirty, dreadful place: ibid.
7. You’d better get off: Rachel Robinson, interview.
8. ready to explode: I Never, p. 53.
9. I could see him: Rachel Robinson, interview.
10. I had a few: I Never, p. 53.
11. I made sure that: Rachel Robinson, interview.
12. I wouldn’t do it: Rowan, p. 135.
13. I never want another: PC, March 9, 1946.
14. bad flying weather: Montreal Gazette, March 2, 1946.
15. No one objects: PC, March 9, 1946.
16. a dear, sentimental romantic: Rachel Robinson, interview.
17. If we can’t put: PC, March 9, 1946.
18. I felt so protective: Rachel Robinson, interview.
19. to be the gentlemen: Montreal Gazette, March 1, 1946.
20. because of my interest: NYT, March 1, 1946.
21. keeping up a constant: Rowan, pp. 137–138.
22. Well, this is it: Clyde Sukeforth to Rachel Robinson, March 18, 1987, RRP [dated 1976].
23. became the first two: New York Daily Worker, March 5, 1946.
24. Jack, do you think: See Rowan, p. 138. Not verbatim.
25. In those days: Rowan, p. 139.
26. Mr. Rickey, do you: Rowan, p. 145.
27. I never saw these: Montreal Gazette, March 5, 1946.
28. We disliked this distinction: Rowan, p. 142.
29. that Mr. Rickey has played: Montreal Gazette, March 6, 1946.
30. If he was white: Rowan, p. 144.
31. Day after day: Rachel Robinson, “I Live with a Hero,” Negro Digest, June 1951, p. 4.
32. How could I miss: Rachel Robinson, interview. / We began to see: ibid.
33. I was disappointed: ibid.
34. My Dearest Darling: JR to Rachel Robinso
n, n.d., RRP.
35. Rickey would show up: Rachel Robinson, interview.
36. has been giving Jackie: PC, March 30, 1946.
37. swarthy señor: PC, March 23, 1946.
38. I’m not interested: PC, March 30, 1946.
39. He had the greatest: Philadelphia Daily News, Oct. 27, 1972.
40. forever blasted: Daily Worker, March 17, 1946.
41. Lou was intelligent: I Never, p. 57.
42. a few weak: I Never, p. 58.
43. Playing under terrific pressure: Daytona Beach Evening Journal, March 17, 1946.
44. We were literally afraid: Rachel Robinson, interview.
45. ROBINSON GETS A HIT: PC, April 6, 1946.
46. a man in a goldfish: Baltimore Afro-American, March 16, 1946.
47. It is part of: Montreal Gazette, March 22, 1946.
48. We lived up to: PC, April 6, 1946.
49. What this had to: I Never, p. 61.
50. Vicious old man Jim: PC, April 13, 1946.
51. Without Robinson and Wright: PC, April 13, 1946.
52. That’s great: PC, March 30, 1946.
53. one of the most: PC, April 13, 1946.
54. Poor Hopper: Montreal Standard, April 4, 1946.
55. I remember the parades: Rowan, p. 149.
56. Now the crowd went: Rowan, p. 154.
57. as he was mobbed: New York Herald Tribune, April 19, 1946.
58. a mad scene: Montreal Gazette, April 19, 1946.
59. converted his opportunity: NYT, April 19, 1946.
60. Make no mistake: Montreal Gazette, April 20, 1946.
61. Thus the most significant: New York Amsterdam News, April 27, 1946.
62. While it’s a ticklish: Montreal Standard, April 28, 1946.
63. He didn’t say so: ibid.
64. nigger son of a bitch: misc. clipping, n.d., JRP.
65. It put a heavy: I Never, pp. 59–60.
66. The woman didn’t merely: Rachel Robinson, interview.
67. such good people: Edgar Méthot to Jack and Rachel Robinson, July 10, 1972, JRP.
68. The only person: Baltimore Afro-American, May 11, 1946.
69. the Colored Comet: Montreal Gazette, June 4, 1946.
70. I consider it a great: JR to New York State Organizing Committee, United Negro and Allied Veterans of America, n.d. [1946], JRP.
71. Hey Jackie, there’s: I Never, p. 62.
72. I owe more: Toronto Star, March 16, 1957.
73. I’ve reminded him: Montreal Gazette, Oct. 5, 1946.
74. He came into the office: Montreal Gazette, Oct. 7, 1946.
75. Because of his dark: ibid.
76. the toll that incidents: I Never, p. 62.
77. Rachel’s understanding love: I Never, p. 67.
78. I never told Jack: Rachel Robinson, interview.
79. a player who must: Newsweek, Aug. 26, 1946, p. 72.
80. I’d like to have: Rowan, p. 161.
81. I’ve had great luck: Newsweek, Aug. 26, 1946, p. 72.
82. The tension was terrible: I Never, p. 63.
83. The worse I played: I Never, p. 63.
84. demonstrations of prejudice: Louisville Courier-Journal, Oct. 6, 1946.
85. which really settled: Montreal Daily Star, Oct. 4, 1946.
86. The tears poured down: Montreal Gazette, Oct. 6, 1946.
87. You’re a great ballplayer: I Never, p. 65.
88. They stormed around him: Montreal Gazette, Oct. 6, 1946.
89. It was probably: I Never, p. 65.
CHAPTER 8
1. the promoters: Arthur Mann, The Jackie Robinson Story (N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, 1951), p. 158.
2. Even if you don’t: Susan Rayl, “Jackie Robinson and Basketball: Excellence on the Court,” address, Bethune-Cookman College, Fla., March 15, 1996.
3. put a real hurting: Jack Gordon, interview.
4. to say that Robinson: PC, Jan. 25, 1947.
5. I have made every: PC, Feb. 1, 1947.
6. I guess Mr. Rickey: ibid.
7. the things which are: Mann, pp. 160–161.
8. the one enemy most: Mann, pp. 162–163.
9. I was told that: I Never, p. 68.
10. I can’t afford to: Roger Kahn, “The Ten Years of Jackie Robinson,” Sport, October 1955, p. 12.
11. I honestly wouldn’t know: SN, April 2, 1947.
12. but the crowd came: SN, March 26, 1947.
13. I want you to run: I Never, p. 69.
14. startling: SN, March 26, 1947.
15. The infield was made: SN, April 2, 1947.
16. Robinson’s movements around: ibid.
17. When they take their: PC, March 29, 1947.
18. It would be a crime: SN, March 26, 1947.
19. He’s a swell ball: PC, March 1, 1947.
20. because people might think: NYT, March 30, 1947.
21. far off his usual: SN, April 2, 1947.
22. there is also little: SN, March 26, 1947.
23. did not suffer by: SN, April 2, 1947.
24. I wasn’t trying: NYT, July 17, 1977.
25. there were five of: Kirby Higbe, The High Hard One (N.Y.: Viking, 1967), pp. 103–104.
26. I don’t care if: Harold Parrott, The Lords of Baseball (N.Y.: Praeger, 1976), pp. 208–209.
27. When you’re born: Daily News (Philadelphia), April 14, 1987.
28. He really reamed me: NYT, Dec. 10, 1981.
29. that a little show: I Never, p. 68.
30. Recently the thought: Dixie Walker to Branch Rickey, March 26, 1947, BRP.
31. No player on this: NYT, April 1, 1947.
32. one of the greatest: PC, March 22, 1947.
33. a tendency to choke up: PC, April 5, 1947.
34. I tried not to notice: Roy Campanella, It’s Good to Be Alive (Boston: Little, Brown, 1959), p. 131.
35. the most delicate question: NYT, April 9, 1947.
36. detrimental to baseball: NYT, April 10, 1947.
37. several thousand Negroes: NYT, April 11, 1947.
38. an unimpeachable source: PC, March 29, 1947.
39. My boy, I must: NYT, Oct. 26, 1972.
40. Robinson, how are you: PC, April 19, 1947.
41. Next time I go: ibid.
42. He’s certain to continue: NYT, April 12, 1947.
43. We were scared: Rachel Robinson, interview.
44. I was determined: Rachel Robinson, interview.
45. I did a miserable: I Never, p. 70.
46. If they’re all like: New York Daily News, April 17, 1947.
47. perfect: NYT, April 18, 1947.
48. Robby has supreme confidence: New York Daily News, April 17, 1947.
49. The muscular Negro: NYT, April 16, 1947.
50. They came to see: Red Barber, 1947—When All Hell Broke Loose in Baseball (N.Y.: Doubleday, 1982), p. 155.
51. a thousand people: PC, April 19, 1947.
52. We never thought of: Rachel Robinson, interview.
53. I don’t know what: PC, April 26, 1947.
54. Hi, Black Boy!: ibid.
55. He’s not a ballplayer: New York Daily Mirror, April 17, 1947.
56. I ain’t going to: Lester Rodney to Paul Buhle and Michael Fermanowsky, transcript of interview, 1981, UCLA Oral History Program, UCLA Archives, p. 66.
57. a swell bunch: Marty Solow, “Meet Jackie Robinson,” Union Voice, April 27, 1947.
58. Jackie is sitting: Boston Globe, Jan. 24, 1962.
59. the loneliest man: May 10, 1947.
60. of all the unpleasant: I Never, pp. 71–72.
61. The things the Phillies: PC, May 3, 1947.
62. Listen, you yellow-bellied: I Never, p. 73.
63. the only gentleman: ibid.
64. Chapman did more than: I Never, p. 74.
65. Photographers sprang up: Barber, p. 162.
66. If you do this: New York Herald Tribune, May 9, 1947.
67. We have a great: NYT, April 29, 1947.
68. bring the Nigger here
: Parrott, p. 193.
69. And don’t bring your: ibid.
70. pointed bats at me: I Never, p. 76.
71. This is something I: Parrott, p. 217.
72. Having my picture taken: I Never, p. 75.
73. Chapman impressed me: PC, May 17, 1947.
74. scrawled and scribbled: Parrott, p. 190.
75. I felt they should: Philadelphia Inquirer, May 10, 1947.
76. I do not profess: PC, June 7, 1947.
77. the Negro first baseman: NYT, May 13, 1947.
78. Stick in there: PC, May 24, 1947.
79. Class tells: NYT, May 18, 1947.
80. The guys on the team: PC, May 24, 1947.
81. I used to go out: I Never, p. 78.
82. Find out for yourself: Duke Snider and Bill Gilbert, The Duke of Flatbush (N.Y.: Zebra, 1988), p. 21.
83. I had been: ibid.
84. Robinson is now paying: PC, May 31, 1947.
85. displayed too much enthusiasm: ibid.
86. fears and apprehensions: PC, June 7, 1947.
87. In 1947, Jackie: Roger Wilkins to author, interview, May 16, 1995.
88. But as he had: Barber, p. 200.
89. in dear old Brooklyn: PC, May 31, 1947.
90. I have learned that: PC, June 14, 1947.
91. Times were simpler: Snider, p. 20.
92. were eating at his: Parrott, p. 199.
93. Darling, As we fly: JR to Rachel Robinson, n.d., RRP.
94. he was not yet: Rachel Robinson, interview.
95. I’ve met most: misc. clipping, n.d., JRP.
96. The feeling in Brooklyn: Rachel Robinson, interview.
97. a swell bunch: PC, June 21, 1947.
98. definitely one: PC, June 28, 1947.
99. very viciously: WP, Aug. 28, 1949.
100. I get all kinds: Boston Daily Herald, June 28, 1947.
101. You haven’t seen Robinson: misc. uniden. clipping, June 25, 1947, JRP.
102. He is a grand: PC, July 12, 1947.
103. amazing for a rookie: Toronto Star, July 7, 1947.
104. came within an inch: Barber, p. 277.
105. Hate was running high: Barber, p. 278.
106. Slaughter deliberately went: I Never, p. 80.
107. I know the truth: NYT, Sept. 29, 1996.
108. You better play your: Roscoe McGowen, “If You Were Jackie Robinson,” Sport, September 1947, p. 41.
109. broke up [the] incipient: SN, Sept. 24, 1947.
110. Ty Cobb in Technicolor: Christopher Jennison, Wait ’Til Next Year: The Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants, 1947–1957 (N.Y.: Norton, 1974), p. 22.
Jackie Robinson Page 69