Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism.

Jackie Robinson’s life inspired his daughter, Sharon Robinson, to focus on baseball issues regarding race. She writes, “[B]aseball was […] America’s pastime. It seemed to represent all that was […] good about America; Democracy. Teamwork. Fair play. Excellence. It also represented America at its worst: Divided. Discriminatory. Unjust” (23). Baseball’s “unjust” elements went beyond race. In Crazy ’08 (Smithsonian Books, 2007), journalist Cait Murphy uses the 1908 season to present a broader history of baseball, discussing the violent atmosphere in stadiums. Despite the race of players on the field, baseball fans were threatening and hostile. People felt unsafe at stadiums, and the precarious atmosphere led to the creation of the American League, which claimed that it had more civilized fans than the National League.

Likewise, players’ salaries reflected unfairness. A student at Bucknell University, Danny Nolan, created an interactive timeline of MLB contracts for players, “Exploring the History of MLB Contracts.” Owners routinely underplayed players, and from 1879 to 1975, they operated under the “reserve clause,” which gave them complete control of their players. St. Louis Cardinals All-Star outfielder Curt Floyd compared the reserve clause to