(About the Series: Based upon my Conversation with guest Derek Meinecke, I’m going back in time to be in the stands at 10 sporting events. This week, it’s #2. You’re able to find links to the previous installments below.)
My junior year of undergrad at Eastern Michigan University back in the late 1980s, I was in Professor Curtis Stadtfeld’s “History of Journalism” class. One of our assignments was to look at a significant historical event from a journalism point of view. In other words, how did the media cover a particular event?
It was a no-brainer for me: My topic would be Jackie Robinson‘s intregration of Major League Baseball.
Similarly, it was a no-brainer when it came to selecting the penultimate Back in Time journey to witness sports history.
We’re heading to back to Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, NY, on April 15, 1947. I’ll take any seat in Ebbets’ Field that afternoon – and there were about 5,000 available! – to witness Robinson’s debut for the Dodgers against the visiting Boston Braves.
I’m not really sure how, why, or when my fascination with Robinson began, but it did. He was long-since retired and already enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, before I was born. And, unfortunately, died when I was five. If I had any inkling of who Robinson was as a child, I surely don’t remember it.
Yet, there I was in 1980-something, doing a deep dive into the media’s coverage of Robinson as he worked his way from the Kansas City Monarchs to the Montreal Royals to the Brooklyn Dodgers. For the life of me, I cannot find that paper.
I think I received an A for the assignment. What I do recall, however, is that it’s when I first became acquainted with the work of Pittsburgh Courier sportswriter Wendell Smith who was instrumental in the recruitment of Robinson and supporting him once he joined the Dodgers’ organization. Interestingly, Robinson and Smith the two died just 32 days apart in 1972. (Check out this wonderful story about Smith written by the Los Angeles’ Times‘ Bill Plaschke back in 2013.)
The game wound up being a bit uneventful as far as Robinson’s concerned. He went 0-for-3 but reached on an errant throw on a sacrifice bunt. He eventually came around to score the go-ahead run in the Dodgers’ 5-3 win. You’re able to read the SABR Game Project on his debut here.
It’s great to know what happened, but it should have been nice to be there.
Previous Installments
- Number 10 – 1972 NLCS Game 5
- Number 9 – 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics
- Number 8 – 2007 One Hall of a Trip
- Number 7 – 1973 Secretariat’s Triple Crown Run
- Number 6 – 1980 Wimbledon Final Borg-McEnroe
- Number 5 – 1986 Jack Nicklaus’ Final Masters’ Win
- Number 4 – 1974 Hank Aaron’ 715th HR
- Number 3 – 1972 Munich Summer Olympics