Breaking Baseball's Color Barrier
Take nothing away from what John Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson did in April of 1947, when he became the first "Negro" to play in a major league baseball game. For nearly 60 years. Wait a minute, he was the first, wasn't he?
No. He wasn't. Now that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve every bit of credit that he has received, every accolade given, every award awarded. He does. But it must be noted that in a bit of chicanery, major league baseball had a few Negros playing the game back in the 1880s, passing them off as "Spaniards", "Portuguese" or "Arabs". The practice ended very quickly and the color barrier became baseball's unwritten rule. And it remained in place until Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to a Dodgers contract in 1947.
And there is no reason for the makers of "42" to have mentioned this fact in their movie. It doesn't detract from what Jackie Robinson accomplished. But there are other "revisions" or "omissions" of history in the film and perhaps they should be chronicled. There are some spoilers ahead so if you haven't seen the film, be warned.
In the movie, club manager Leo Durocher makes his famous speech saying that he will play Robinson if he can help the club win, and making it clear that any player who isn't on-board with this plan had no future with the ballclub. What's left out is that Durocher said he believed that Robinson could make him and all of the other players rich, by making the team a winning ballclub.
Also in the film, Durocher is suspended from baseball for one year for "morals" issues involving his affair with a married woman. That isn't what really happened. Oh, the affair happened, and the Catholic Youth Organization of Brooklyn was highly critical of Durocher for it. But the official reason given for Durocher's suspension is that he consorted with known gamblers. He aso allegedly was involved in a rigged crap game where a pro baseball player was taken for a large amount of money. But the impetus for his suspension was a feud he was involved in with the owner of the Yankees, Larry MacPhail. The Yankees had hired away two of Durocher's coaches after the 1946 season. MacPhail was close with the baseball commissioner, Happy Chandler and Durocher had to sit for a year.
The film makes it look like Burt Shotton, who replaced Durocher as the club's manager for the 1947 season had retired. He had, from on-the-field roles. But he wasn't just "raising roses" as the film makes it appear. He was working as a scout for the Dodgers. A minor point to be sure, but why bother chaging history here? The point is, he'd said he was done working on the field. Focus on that, rather than trying to make it appear he'd left the game completely.
The film accurately portrays Philadelphia's manager Ben Chapman as a racist, but the real extent of his racism isn't fully shown. Since it doesn't drive the main story, this is understandable, but it is worth noting that when Chapman was a player for the Yankees, he taunted Jewish fans with Nazi salutes (it was during the time the Nazis were rising to power in Germany) and in 1933 his brawl with a Jewish player earned him a five game suspension.
The film makes Jackie Robinson seem more heroic than he was in the pennant-clinching game. The film makes that game with the Pirates appear to be a pitcher's duel, scoreless until the 9th inning. In fact, Robinson hit his two-run homer in the 4th inning and the game never got closer than two runs after that. But tension and heroics get enhanced in filmmaking.
The legacy of Jackie Robinson is such that his heroism and courage need no embellishment.
No. He wasn't. Now that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve every bit of credit that he has received, every accolade given, every award awarded. He does. But it must be noted that in a bit of chicanery, major league baseball had a few Negros playing the game back in the 1880s, passing them off as "Spaniards", "Portuguese" or "Arabs". The practice ended very quickly and the color barrier became baseball's unwritten rule. And it remained in place until Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to a Dodgers contract in 1947.
And there is no reason for the makers of "42" to have mentioned this fact in their movie. It doesn't detract from what Jackie Robinson accomplished. But there are other "revisions" or "omissions" of history in the film and perhaps they should be chronicled. There are some spoilers ahead so if you haven't seen the film, be warned.
In the movie, club manager Leo Durocher makes his famous speech saying that he will play Robinson if he can help the club win, and making it clear that any player who isn't on-board with this plan had no future with the ballclub. What's left out is that Durocher said he believed that Robinson could make him and all of the other players rich, by making the team a winning ballclub.
Also in the film, Durocher is suspended from baseball for one year for "morals" issues involving his affair with a married woman. That isn't what really happened. Oh, the affair happened, and the Catholic Youth Organization of Brooklyn was highly critical of Durocher for it. But the official reason given for Durocher's suspension is that he consorted with known gamblers. He aso allegedly was involved in a rigged crap game where a pro baseball player was taken for a large amount of money. But the impetus for his suspension was a feud he was involved in with the owner of the Yankees, Larry MacPhail. The Yankees had hired away two of Durocher's coaches after the 1946 season. MacPhail was close with the baseball commissioner, Happy Chandler and Durocher had to sit for a year.
The film makes it look like Burt Shotton, who replaced Durocher as the club's manager for the 1947 season had retired. He had, from on-the-field roles. But he wasn't just "raising roses" as the film makes it appear. He was working as a scout for the Dodgers. A minor point to be sure, but why bother chaging history here? The point is, he'd said he was done working on the field. Focus on that, rather than trying to make it appear he'd left the game completely.
The film accurately portrays Philadelphia's manager Ben Chapman as a racist, but the real extent of his racism isn't fully shown. Since it doesn't drive the main story, this is understandable, but it is worth noting that when Chapman was a player for the Yankees, he taunted Jewish fans with Nazi salutes (it was during the time the Nazis were rising to power in Germany) and in 1933 his brawl with a Jewish player earned him a five game suspension.
The film makes Jackie Robinson seem more heroic than he was in the pennant-clinching game. The film makes that game with the Pirates appear to be a pitcher's duel, scoreless until the 9th inning. In fact, Robinson hit his two-run homer in the 4th inning and the game never got closer than two runs after that. But tension and heroics get enhanced in filmmaking.
The legacy of Jackie Robinson is such that his heroism and courage need no embellishment.
posted by me at 6:44 AM
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