A Fine Team Man
Jackie Robinson and the Lives He Touched
by Joe Cox
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Pub Date Feb 01 2019 | Archive Date Feb 08 2019
Rowman & Littlefield | Lyons Press
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Description
Jackie Robinson famously said that a life is not important except for the impact it has on other lives. As we celebrate Robinson’s 100th birthday in January 2019, Stealing Home profiles nine figures whose lives were altered by the “great experiment,” as the integration of baseball was called then. Profiled here are Rachel Robinson, the stoic but thoughtful wife; Branch Rickey, the mercurial but far-sighted manager/owner of the Dodgers; Baseball Commissioner ”Happy” Chandler, who quietly paved the way for integration; Clyde Sukeforth, the scout whose assessment of Robinson was crucial to the player’s 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, who managed Robinson during Robinson’s majestic MVP season in 1949; 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 moved 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. As Joe Cox concludes, “Perhaps the ultimate measure of the glory of Robinson’s quest is that it converted those inclined against it to see all men as equal, at least on the great field of baseball.”
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781493039043 |
| PRICE | $27.95 (USD) |
Links
Featured Reviews
Andrew S, Reviewer
Do we need another book about Jackie Robinson in 2019? Well, Joe Cox answers with a definitive 'yes' in his newest book, A Fine Team Man: Jackie Robinson and the Live He Touched.
Eschewing the traditional biography, Cox instead looks at Robinson's life through the prism of nine individuals closely associated with him- his wife, Rachel; Dodgers executive Branch Rickey, scout Clyde Sukeforth, manager Burt Shotton, and broadcaster Red Barber; baseball commissioner Happy Chandler; African-American sportswriter Wendell Smith; and Dodger teammates Pee Wee Reese and Dixie Walker. A chapter each is devoted to these individuals, with Cox providing biographical sketches of each individual's life before, during, and after their interactions with Robinson.
Because there have been so many books about Robinson, and a hit biopic just a few years ago, the author necessarily covers some familiar ground. The chapters on Rachel Robinson and Branch Rickey will be familiar to those who have previously read about Robinson and the breaking of baseball's color barrier. Even so, Cox does not allow accepted myth to stand as fact without exploration. A fine example of this is the well-known (but maybe apocryphal) event when Reese walked over to Robinson and put his arm around Jackie. Cox reviews the available record, including contemporary accounts and the recollections of those who were there, and comes to a very likely and well-supported conclusion.
The book's real strength comes from the chapters on the lesser known individuals. Two particularly strong passages detail Wendell Smith's work as a co-laborer for the integration of baseball, and Dixie Walker's evolution and regret regarding his initial resistance to playing alongside of Robinson.
Overall, A Fine Team Man is an interesting and informative addition to the Jackie Robinson canon. While it's hard to break completely new ground on a story so oft told, Joe Cox has produced a work that increases substantially our understanding of the influence that Jackie Robinson had on several of the people in his orbit.
Thanks to Net Galley for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Lyndsay A, Reviewer
"Change come hard for some, but it still comes, and 100 year after his birth and 46 years after his death, that is the ultimate legacy that Jackie Robinson leaves."
I have always loved learning about Jackie Robinson. It took a lot of courage for him to choose to be baseballs greatest experiment and I just have so much respect for him. I haven't read a ton of books about him but what I loved about this one is that it focused not just on Jackie Robinson but the people he played baseball with and interacted with. Yes he was baseball's greatest experiment but it took more than just him to make it happen. I just loved that this book focused on all the people who supported (or did not) Branch Rickey's decision to break the color barrier in major league baseball. Also the book shows how Jackie Robinson affected their lives and careers and how they had an impact on his. It shows how much support he had through out his career.
This book was well written and you can tell that the author really did his research. I mean its not easy writing a book about a baseball player that has had multiple books already written about him. I do feel like I learned so much and I just really enjoyed this book! I think any baseball fan will too.
*I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
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