tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36360371.post8539811818345018889..comments2024-03-13T00:46:47.172-07:00Comments on Sons of Steve Garvey: Jackie Robinson: Demythified?Steve Saxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00930320282262607468noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36360371.post-54893486309795885952007-02-06T23:07:00.000-08:002007-02-06T23:07:00.000-08:00Rob: That's some more excellent context for the ar...Rob: That's some more excellent context for the article - thanks for filling me in on the background sources. Sounds like maybe the sports writers at the Times aren't as sneaky as the front page staff. I've just seen them publish misleading stuff so often (usually by carefully selecting which parts of a story to include) that I've got a hair-trigger when I see them edging toward anything even remotely political. Thanks to both you and Orel for bringing up this article!A Faceless Shin Jin Ruihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13391622350063410646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36360371.post-5766788933298326162007-02-05T22:01:00.000-08:002007-02-05T22:01:00.000-08:00Robinson making the Dodgers team was a big story i...<i>Robinson making the Dodgers team was a big story in the LA Times in 1946 and 1947, which is interesting since the LA Times was an extremely conservative paper at the time.</i><br /><br />Reviewing the contemporaneous press clippings out of the <i>Times</i>, all of the reporting was by the AP, though I suspect at that time the <i>Times</i> would still have been relying on that for national news. Some of it was page 2 stuff, but some of it made it to the front page of the Sports section. For instance, on April 12, 1947, it mentions that Robinson went hitless in the first of a three-game preseason exhibition series against the Yankees, but drove in three runs anyway.<br /><br />(An aside from that same paper: the PCL had already been playing as many as 11 games of their regular season by that time.)Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18015219452269186971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36360371.post-60227881598380114022007-02-05T15:51:00.000-08:002007-02-05T15:51:00.000-08:00Incidentally, the cause of Robinson's death was a ...Incidentally, the cause of Robinson's death was a heart attack, but recall that diabetes is a leading indicator for circulatory problems in general, which includes heart attacks and strokes, not to mention cancer.<br /><br />Moreover, Robinson put on weight fairly easily. After his impressive 1947 season, prominent blacks all over the country tripped over themselves to invite him to dinners toasting his success. As a result, he showed up to spring training 20 lbs. overweight, prompting the caustic Leo Durocher to send him out in the field wearing a rubber suit, belittling him for appearing so overweight when he was in shape for Charlie Dressen the year before. It was humiliating for the sensitive Robinson, who never really forgave Durocher (though he was very politic in his later writings on the subject). But the weight gain was a predictor of things to come: later pictures of him show a rather stout man (though not as bad as Kirby Puckett), something that assuredly contributed to his diabetes.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18015219452269186971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36360371.post-23313591092701218152007-02-05T15:31:00.000-08:002007-02-05T15:31:00.000-08:00Jason -- the Washington Times article reaffirms a ...Jason -- the <i>Washington Times</i> article reaffirms a story appearing in Glenn Stout's <i>The Dodgers</i> and also in <i>Bums</i>. In other words, Moonie owner or no, the story was valid; the "white press" really didn't pick up on Robinson's promotion at the time.<br /><br />Robinson was an amazing man, someone unafraid to go his own way on so many things. The HUAC testimony, something I think he later regretted, was just one example. He was, by all accounts, an amazingly courageous man.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18015219452269186971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36360371.post-47022733268921852752007-02-05T10:19:00.000-08:002007-02-05T10:19:00.000-08:00CalTech was shutout by Pasadena City College? Unb...CalTech was shutout by Pasadena City College? Unbelievable.Steve Saxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00930320282262607468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36360371.post-1307261978363988242007-02-05T10:07:00.000-08:002007-02-05T10:07:00.000-08:00The L.A. papers referred to Robinson as "Jackie" w...The L.A. papers referred to Robinson as "Jackie" while he was in high school and college (both Pasadena City and UCLA).<br /><br />For example, a headline on November 12, 1937 reads "Jackie Robinson leads Bulldogs to 12-0 victory over Caltech".<br /><br />Robinson making the Dodgers team was a big story in the LA Times in 1946 and 1947, which is interesting since the LA Times was an extremely conservative paper at the time. But Robinson was a big college sports hero in the area and sports fans in the area had been accustomed to black starts such as Robinson, Kenny Washington, and Woody Strode.Bob Timmermannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08557837169697676093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36360371.post-18093740270789049282007-02-04T21:08:00.000-08:002007-02-04T21:08:00.000-08:00Thanks, I was unaware of that. I also found this ...Thanks, I was unaware of that. I also found <a href="http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/robinson_j.htm">this</a> at a separate site:<br /><br /><i>In 1949 the House Un-American Activities Committee subpoenaed Robinson to rebut singer, actor, and political activist Paul Robeson's declaration that African Americans would not support this country in a war with the Soviet Union. In his autobiography, I Never Had It Made, published shortly before he died, Robinson defended his 1949 testimony that he would not desert his country based on "a siren song sung in bass." He disavowed the phrasing, which he then saw as an insult to the older, wiser Robeson, a hero to the people for whose causes he had made meaningful sacrifices.</i>Orelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08167042485092304070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36360371.post-27569673929712049002007-02-04T15:55:00.000-08:002007-02-04T15:55:00.000-08:00It's probably worth noting that the Washington Tim...It's probably worth noting that the Washington Times has a pronounced ideological bias. I'm no expert in this matter, and am profoundly influenced by Ken Burns, as well, so I'm in no position to really decry the article. It could all be true for all I know. But the Times has a long track record of playing fast-and-loose with the facts of history - particularly when those facts are of interest to progressivism. That strikes me as important context.A Faceless Shin Jin Ruihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13391622350063410646noreply@blogger.com