A Fine Team Man: Jackie Robinson and the Lives He Touched

by Joe Cox

Overview

Jackie Robinson famously said that a life is not important except for the impact it has on other lives. As we celebrate Robinson’s 100th birthday in January 2019, A Fine Team Man profiles not only Robinson, but nine other figures whose lives were altered by the “great experiment,” as the integration of baseball was called then. Profiled here are Rachel Robinson, the stoic and enduring wife; Branch Rickey, the tight-fisted but far-sighted general manager/owner of the Dodgers; baseball commissioner ”Happy” Chandler, who navigated political factions as he paved the way for integration; Clyde Sukeforth, the jack of all trades whose assessment, instruction, and encouragement of Robinson were crucial to the player’s success; Red Barber, whose own views on integration were altered by Robinson’s example of grace under pressure; Wendell Smith, the prominent black journalist who helped Robinson navigate through the trappings of a racist society; Burt Shotton, whose low-key style of managing helped Robinson into his best seasons; Pee Wee Reese, the Dodgers captain who united the team behind Robinson; and finally, Dixie Walker, the veteran Dodgers star who vowed never to play alongside Robinson, but who was eventually so changed by Robinson’s courage that he spent his last years working to improve the skills of such African-American players as Maury Wills, Jim Wynn, and Dusty Baker. While the story of Jackie Robinson has often been told and retold, seeing it through the lens of the lives he changed gives it a fresh shine. Perhaps more than ever, Robinson’s excellence sparkles through A Fine Team Man to demonstrate that change remains not only possible, but certain for both great heroes and for those who are savvy or fortunate enough to share the journey or at least stand in the wake during the hero’s finest moments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493061914
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/01/2022
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	1,035,948
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Joe Cox is the author of Almost Perfect: The Heartbreaking Pursuit of Pitching’s Holy Grail and The Immaculate Inning. A member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), Cox is a coauthor of several other sports books. He lives with his family near Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

Chapter 1 Rachel Robinson: "You Know Doggone Well You've Got a Girl." 1

Chapter 2 Attendance, Jesus, and America: The Motivations of Branch Rickey 33

Chapter 3 Tricky Navigation: Happy Chandler, Jim Crow, and Jackie Robinson 63

Chapter 4 Wendell Smith and the Power of the Press 89

Chapter 5 Clyde Sukeforth and the Residue of Design 115

Chapter 6 Kindly Old Burt Shotton: "I Cannot Possibly Hurt You." 134

Chapter 7 Men and Brothers: Red Barber and Jackie Robinson 156

Chapter 8 Pee Wee Reese: "Standing by Me." 178

Chapter 9 Dixie Walker: "I Feel Like I've Learned." 204

Acknowledgments 229

Notes 231

Bibliography 254

Index 259

About the Author 270