Description
Book SynopsisJackie Robinson famously said that a life is not important except for the impact it has on other lives. As we celebrate Robinson's 100
th birthday in January 2019, A Fine Team Man profiles not only Robinson, but nine other figures whose lives were altered by the great experiment, as the integration of baseball was called then. Profiled 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 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, whose low-key style of managi
