Publisher's Weekly Review
Veteran Newsday sports reporter Jacobson sticks mainly to the facts in this story of the African-American players who followed Jackie Robinson's lead into the major leagues. In his portraits of these 19 greats-who range from stars like Hank Aaron to lesser-knowns such as Mudcat Grant and Ed Charles-Jacobson bemoans the fate of so many might-have-beens and celebrates the success of the lucky few who actually received their just rewards. The hardships were legion, with almost every player recounting the difficulties of traveling a segregated country in the pre-civil rights era, when black athletes often couldn't patronize the same restaurants or the same hotels as their white teammates. In 1962 the St. Louis Cardinals helped bust down Jim Crow laws in Florida by buying their own hotel in St. Petersburg to avoid the problem during spring training. Although Jacobson's pen is a pedestrian one, he imparts a good many details on almost every page, due to the incomparable character of the men gathered in this honor roll of bravery. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Choice Review
Martin Luther King Jr. said that his journey was made easier because people like Jackie Robinson came before him and challenged segregation. Jacobson, a longtime sportswriter for Newsday, interviewed 19 African Americans--18 players and one umpire--who followed Robinson into professional baseball from 1947 to 1968. The stories reveal the courage, humiliation, and pain of these men as they faced the brutality of racial discrimination. Thanks to their talent and determination, Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks, and Henry Aaron endured and went on to become major league stars. For others, such as Charlie Murray, bigotry won out and drove them from the game. Jacobson vividly captures these men who, as Robinson himself put it, "never had it made." Because so many of these stories cover the same ground, with heartbreaking anguish, readers will get a sense of deja vu as they move through the book. Baseball fans will respond to the book as they do the game's hall of fame: they will wonder why certain players are in it and others are not. For example, what about "Pumpsie" Green, the first black to play for the Boston Red Sox, the last major league team to be integrated? The book deserves a better title than the unnecessary cliche with which it is saddled. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-/upper-division undergraduates; general readers. C. J. Lamb College of Charleston
Library Journal Review
In this informally delivered offering of 19 life stories, Jacobson, a longtime sports reporter for Newsday, underscores the anguish and the accomplishments of black Major League players. Seeking to go beyond the familiar tales of Jackie Robinson and many top Negro League players, he nevertheless explores the lives and times of Monte Irvin and Larry Doby but also presents accounts of lesser-known figures, including Ed Charles, Alvin Jackson, and Chuck Harmon. The author also discusses Ernie Banks's love for the game; the pain the first black New York Yankee, Elston Howard, endured; the athletic genius of Frank Robinson, Bob Gibson, and Henry Aaron; and the heroic battles waged by Curt Flood, Lou Brock, and Bob Watson. Jacobson's style is casual, sometimes a bit too much so, but the message of lengthy racial barriers, crass insensitivity, dogged determination, and marked triumphs comes through. Altogether, this volume makes a contribution to the ever-expanding literature on America's game and the role played by its black competitors, including the path forged by organized baseball's first black umpire, Emmett Ashford. Recommended for public libraries.-R.C. Cottrell, California State Univ., Chico (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.