A calculus of color : the integration of baseball's American League

Title:

Author:

McGregor, Robert Kuhn, 1952-

ISBN:

9780786494408

Physical Description:

x, 214 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Contents:

Introduction : The costs of racism -- The Negro leagues : baseball by and for black people -- The American League : the trials of a major league -- The masks of separation : why integration was unlikely to happen -- A more honest face : how integration happened -- The American League tries : the pioneer experiments -- Interlude. The end of the road : the Negro leagues wither -- Reluctant realists : a change gathers momentum -- Ungracious surrender : the ongoing resistance of the final two -- Looking back-and looking ahead.

Corporate Subject:

American League of Professional Baseball Clubs -- History.

Major League Baseball (Organization) -- History.

Subject Term:

Baseball -- United States -- History.

Racism in sports -- United States -- History.

Discrimination in sports -- United States -- History.

Summary:

In 1947, as the integration of Major League baseball began, the once-daring American League had grown reactionary, unwilling to confront postwar challenges. As the political climate changed and some major league teams realized the necessity of integration, the American League proved painfully reluctant. With the exception of the Cleveland Indians, integration was slow and often ineffective. This book examines the integration of baseball, widely viewed as a triumph, through the experiences of the American League, and finds only a limited shift in racial values. The teams accepted few black players and made no effort to alter management structures, and organized baseball remained an institution governed by tradition-bound owners.

Holds:

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	796.357 MCG	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	796.357 MCG	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stillwater Public Library	796.357 MCG	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

In 1947, as the integration of Major League Baseball began, the once-daring American League had grown reactionary, unwilling to confront postwar challenges--population shifts, labor issues and, above all, racial integration. The league had matured in the Jim Crow era, when northern cities responded to the Great Migration by restricting black access to housing, transportation, accommodations and entertainment, while blacks created their own institutions, including baseball's Negro Leagues.

As the political climate changed and some major league teams realized the necessity of integration, the American League proved painfully reluctant. With the exception of the Cleveland Indians, integration was slow and often ineffective. This book examines the integration of baseball--widely viewed as a triumph--through the experiences of the American League and finds only a limited shift in racial values. The teams accepted few black players and made no effort to alter management structures, and organized baseball remained an institution governed by tradition-bound owners.

Author Notes

Robert Kuhn McGregor, emeritus professor of history at the University of Illinois-Springfield, taught environmental history, early American history, and the history of popular culture, including a course on baseball. He lives in Corning, New York.

Reviews (2)

Choice Review

McGregor (emer., history, Univ. of Illinois, Springfield) focuses on integration in the American League, a league often overlooked in the literature on Major League Baseball's integration. The author first provides overviews of the histories of both the American League and the Negro Leagues. This background allows McGregor to emphasize the daunting task facing Bill Veeck, owner and president of the Cleveland Indians, and Larry Doby, whom Veeck recruited from the Negro Leagues in 1947. McGregor offers additional context for Doby's entrance into the American League by detailing the support for integration that arose in black newspapers and the fierce resistance to that effort. Even though McGregor covers familiar ground, his focus on the American League adds another dimension to the discussion of the integration of baseball, which in the American League was slow and painful. He raises important questions about the meaning of integration, particularly how it needed to go beyond the simple fact of having one or more black players on a roster. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers. --Courtney Michelle Smith, Cabrini College

Library Journal Review

Starred Review. McGregor (emeritus, history, Univ. of Illinois-Springfield) traces the integration of baseball's American League following the breaking of the color barrier by Brooklyn's Jackie Robinson in April 1947. The author slams a home run in dealing with racism in baseball and the larger picture of American life. He begins with the assertion that racism is and was an integral aspect of the country's fabric. In small but cautious steps, American League teams fielded black players such as Larry Doby for the Cleveland Indians and "Pumpsie" Green for the Boston Red Sox. If black players were the heroes, owners such as Tom Yawkey in Boston and Clark Griffith in Washington were the villains, as was Commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, all men who conspired to keep African Americans out of the national sport. The combination of returning war veterans (including African Americans), the demise of the Negro leagues, baseball's barnstorming teams, and other factors finally ended segregated baseball. VERDICT McGregor's account makes for a compelling read. A best sports book of 2015, and one that will stand the test of time.-Boyd Childress, formerly with Auburn Univ. Libs., AL (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Preface	p. 1
Introduction: The Costs of Racism	p. 3
I The Negro Leagues: Baseball by and for Black People	p. 17
II The American League: The Trials of a Major League	p. 43
III The Masks of Separation: Why Integration Was Unlikely to Happen	p. 61
IV A More Honest Face: How Integration Happened	p. 82
V The American League Tries: The Pioneer Experiments	p. 99
Interlude: The End of The Road: The Negro Leagues Wither	p. 128
VI Reluctant Realists: A Change Gathers Momentum	p. 135
VII Ungracious Surrender: The Ongoing Resistance of the Final Two	p. 162
VIII Looking Back-and Looking Ahead	p. 179
Chapter Notes	p. 191
Bibliography	p. 205
Index	p. 211

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Summary

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Reviews (2)

Choice Review

Library Journal Review

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