University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln University of Nebraska Press -- Sample Books and University of Nebraska Press Chapters 2014 Jackie and Campy William C. Kashatus Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/unpresssamples Kashatus, William C., "Jackie and Campy" (2014). University of Nebraska Press -- Sample Books and Chapters. 263. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/unpresssamples/263 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Nebraska Press at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Nebraska Press -- Sample Books and Chapters by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. JACKIE & CAMPY Buy the Book Buy the Book JACKIE & CAMPY Th e Untold Story of Th eir Rocky Relationship and the Breaking of Baseball’s Color Line William C. Kashatus University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London Buy the Book © 2014 by William C. Kashatus. Portions of chapters 3, 4, and 5 previously appeared in William C. Kashatus, September Swoon: Richie Allen, the 1964 Phillies and Racial Integration (University Park: Penn State Press, 2004). Used with permission. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Kashatus, William C. Jackie and Campy: the untold story of their rocky relationship and the breaking of baseball’s color line / William C. Kashatus. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978- 0- 8032- 4633- 1 (cloth: alk. paper)— isbn 978- 0- 8032- 5447- 3 (epub)— isbn 978- 0- 8032- 5448- 0 (mobi)— isbn 978- 0- 8032- 5446- 6 (pdf) 1. Robinson, Jackie, 1919– 1972. 2. African American baseball players— Biography. 3. Campanella, Roy, 1921– 1993. 4. Baseball players— United States— Biography. 5. Male friendship— United States. 6. Racism in sports— United States. 7. Discrimination in sports— United States. I. Title. gv865.r6k37 2014 796.3570922— dc23 [B] 2013033133 Set in Minion Pro by Laura Wellington. Designed by A. Shahan. Buy the Book For Michael Zuckerman and to the memory of Peter Cline, gift ed educators who recognized and cultivated my love of history Buy the Book Buy the Book Contents List of Illustrations viii Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. Brooklyn’s Bums 13 2. Rickey’s Choice 31 3. Jackie and Campy 56 4. Breaking the Color Line 81 5. Teammates 106 6. Striking Back 118 7. Collision Course 136 8. Breakup 161 Epilogue 181 Notes 189 Bibliography 217 Index 225 Buy the Book Illustrations Figures 15. Roy Campanella with pitcher 1. Booker T. Washington 5 Don Newcombe 88 2. W. E. B. Du Bois 7 16. Jackie Robinson and 3. Ebbets Field 14 Phillies manager Ben Chapman, 1947 100 4. Branch Rickey 32 17. Jackie Robinson and 5. Satchel Paige 37 Roy Campanella, 1948 107 6. Josh Gibson 39 18. Roy Campanella and Jackie 7. Monte Irvin 43 Robinson at Harlem ymca, 8. Branch Rickey signs Jackie 1948 116 Robinson 52 19. Jackie Robinson, Roy 9. Jackie Robinson as a ucla Campanella, and young track star 60 admirer Sam Yamashita 141 10. Second Lieutenant Jackie 20. 1955 world champion Robinson 63 Brooklyn Dodgers 162 11. Jackie Robinson, Kansas 21. Jackie Robinson steals City Monarchs, 1945 65 home, 1955 168 12. Roy Campanella, Baltimore 22. Jackie Robinson at Ebbets Field Elite Giants, 1942 69 aft er retirement, 1957 177 13. Negro League American 23. Roy Campanella and Jackie All- Stars, Caracas, Venezuela, Robinson, 1964 186 1945 77 14. Jackie Robinson Map swinging bat 82 1. Brooklyn, ca. 1940s 24 viii Buy the Book Acknowledgments Th is book is dedicated to two educators who had a profound impact on my life. Th e late Peter Cline, a professor of history at Earlham College, was my undergraduate advisor and a dear friend. He read widely, thought deeply, and communicated his knowledge with gentle good humor and in a manner that was engaging and respectful of the young minds he taught. Peter encouraged me to pursue graduate school in history and secured a Mellon Fellowship for me aft er I left Earlham. But his greatest gift was cultivating in me a sense of intellectual self- esteem. Michael Zuckerman, emeritus professor at the University of Pennsyl- vania, encouraged me to pursue a doctorate in history and served on my dissertation board. Th ough he would not allow me to settle for anything less than my best work, he did so in a manner that was respectful of me and the intellectual process itself. Mike also took a genuine interest in my dual career as a secondary school teacher and National Park Service Ranger by visiting my “classroom”— sometimes with his own students— and sharing ideas on pedagogy and curriculum. He continues to be a valued friend. Both of these educators served as important role models because of their special ability to communicate with young adults from many diff er- ent backgrounds. Th ey understood that good teaching engages the stu- dent in life itself, challenging him to question the moral conventions and stereotypes of our society. In the process they showed me that teaching can be a challenging and personally rewarding profession because it de- mands intellectual rigor and high standards as well as compassion and faith in young people. For that, I am eternally grateful. Special thanks are also due to all of the individuals who agreed to be interviewed for this book: Hank Aaron, Rich Ashburn, Gene Benson, ix Buy the Book Ralph Caballero, Bill Cash, Mahlon Duckett, Carl Erskine, Stanley Glenn, Wilmer Harris, Gene Hermanski, Monte Irvin, Clyde King, James Mc- Gowan, Johnny Podres, Ken Raff ensberger, Branch Rickey III, Robin Rob- erts, Ed Roebuck, Howie Schultz, Andy Seminick, Harry Walker, Mar- vin Williams, and Don Zimmer. Th e personal insight and candor of Carl Erskine and Monte Irvin are especially appreciated. Th ey are among the few close friends of Roy Campanella and Jackie Robinson who are still with us and were willing to participate in this enterprise. I regret that the Robinson and Campanella families failed to return my phone calls and e- mails. Th eir insights would have contributed signifi cantly to the sub- stance and scope of the book. Th e editorial staff at University of Nebraska Press was invaluable to improving the book, especially Rob Taylor and Courtney Ochsner. I am also grateful to Michael McGandy, Larry Hogan, and Larry Lester, all of whom provided helpful editorial advice and encouragement. John Horne at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library and Carolyn McGoldrick of the Associated Press were extremely helpful in locating photographs and securing permission to reproduce them in this book. Finally, I am grateful to my wife, Jackie, and our three sons, Tim, Pe- ter, and Ben, who continue to tolerate my twin passions for writing and baseball and still off er their unconditional support and love. x • Acknowledgments Buy the Book JACKIE & CAMPY Buy the Book Buy the Book Introduction In 1956 Martin Luther King Jr., a young African American Baptist min- ister, achieved overnight fame when he led a black boycott of the Mont- gomery, Alabama, bus system. King’s introduction of “massive resistance” as a legitimate form of racial protest inspired a Supreme Court decision declaring segregation in public transportation to be illegal and forced the City of Montgomery to abandon its discriminatory seating policies. It also marked the beginning of the modern civil rights movement.1 For the next twelve years King led various forms of nonviolent protest against racial discrimination. Th ough his life was threatened repeatedly and he was arrested many times for violating state segregation laws, he never wavered in his quest to win civil rights through nonviolent tactics and with the cooperation of like- minded whites. His eff orts were admired worldwide and inspired the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which has been referred to as a Magna Charta for African Americans.2 King once confi ded to his closest aide, Wyatt Tee Walker, that Jackie Robinson’s example in breaking baseball’s color barrier inspired him to pursue racial integration on a national stage. “Jackie made it possible for me in the fi rst place,” he said. “Without him, I would never have been able to do what I did.”3 Surprised by the revelation, Walker asked him to explain. “Back in the days when integration wasn’t fashionable,” King said, “Jackie understood the trauma and the humiliation and the loneli- ness which comes with being a pilgrim walking in the lonesome byways toward the high road of freedom. He was a sit- inner before sit- ins and a freedom rider before freedom rides.”4 When Roy Campanella, the fi rst black catcher to break the color bar- rier and a teammate of Robinson’s, learned of the remark, he was quick to 1 Buy the Book point out that Jackie wasn’t the only one who should be credited with the success. “Without the Brooklyn Dodgers you don’t have Brown v. Board of Education,” he insisted, referring to the 1954 landmark Supreme Court decision that declared racial segregation illegal in the United States. “We were the fi rst ones on the trains. We were the fi rst ones down South not to go around the back of the restaurants, the fi rst ones in the hotels. We were the teachers of the whole integration thing.”5 Campanella’s defensiveness came from his belief that he, along with other African American teammates Don Newcombe, Joe Black, and Jim Gilliam, should also be credited with abolishing Jim Crow in American society. All of them endured racial abuse in the Negro Leagues longer than the single season Robinson apprenticed with the Kansas City Mon- archs.6 Unlike Robinson, who actively challenged Jim Crow, Campanella was more subdued in his protest because he knew white society wouldn’t listen.