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

Jackie Robinson's 100th birthday is celebrated in January 2019. A Fine Team Man profiles nine other figures whose lives were altered by the integration of baseball, including Rachel Robinson, Branch Rickey, Clyde Sukeforth, Red Barber, Wendell Smith, Burt Shotton, Pee Wee Reese, and Dixie Walker. Robinson's example of grace under pressure altered the views of Red Barber and Wendell Smith, and his courage inspired Pee Wee Reese to improve the skills of African-American players.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 01 June 2022
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Jackie Robinson famously stated that a life is not significant except for the influence it has on other people's lives. As we commemorate Robinson's 100th birthday in January 2019, A Fine Team Man profiles not only Robinson, but nine other individuals whose lives were altered by the "great experiment," as the integration of baseball was then known. 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 players 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 the very least, stand in the wake during the journey.

Weight: 417g
Dimension: 225 x 145 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781493061914