description: April 15, 1947, marked the most important opening day in baseball history. When Jackie Robinson stepped onto the diamond that afternoon at Ebbets Field, he became the first black man to break into major-league baseball in the twentieth century. World War II had just ended. Democracy had triumphed. Now Americans were beginning to press for justice on the home front-and Robinson had a chance to lead the way. He was an unlikely hero. He had little experience in organized baseball. His swing was far from graceful. And he was assigned to play first base, a position he had never tried before that season. But the biggest concern was his temper. Robinson was an angry man who played an aggressive style of ball. In order to succeed he would have to control himself in the face of what promised to be a brutal assault by opponents of integration. In Opening Day, Jonathan Eig tells the true story behind the national pastime's most sacred myth. Along the way he offers new insights into events of sixty years ago and punctures some familiar legends. Was it true that the St. Louis Cardinals plotted to boycott their first home game against the Brooklyn Dodgers? Was Pee Wee Reese really Robinson's closest ally on the team? Was Dixie Walker his greatest foe? How did Robinson handle the extraordinary stress of being the only black man in baseball and still manage to perform so well on the field? Opening Day is also the story of a team of underdogs that came together against tremendous odds to capture the pennant. Facing the powerful New York Yankees, Robinson and the Dodgers battled to the seventh game in one of the most thrilling World Series competitions of all time. Drawing on interviews with surviving players, sportswriters, and eyewitnesses, as well as newly discovered material from archives around the country, Jonathan Eig presents a fresh portrait of a ferocious competitor who embodied integration's promise and helped launch the modern civil rights era. Full of new details and thrilling action, Opening Day brings to life baseball's ultimate story.
language: English
title: Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season
titlecomplete: Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season
characters: Del Rice, Dixie Howell, Fritz Ostermueller, Larry Berra, Marty Marion, George Marchev, Bruce Edwards, Sam Lacy, Harry Walker, Carl Furillo, Lou Boudreau, Johnny Sain, Si Johnson, Harold Parrott, Bobo Newsom, Clyde Sukeforth, Dick Young, Whitey Kurowski, Red Smith, Margot Hayward, Rachel Isum, Happy Chandler, Rex Barney, Charlie Keller, Sammy Bankhead, Sam Jethroe, Laraine Day, Mallie Robinson, Monte Irvin, Dick Culler, Ford Frick, Herb Pennock, Allan Roth, Burt Shotton, Clarence L. Irving, Eddie Miksis, Eddie Stanky, Kirby Higbe, Benjamin O. Davis, Wendell Smith, Sam Breadon, Jimmy Powers, Frank McKinney, Howie Schultz, Gene Hermanski, William Mallory, Eddie Dyer, Lacy Covington, Bill Bevens, Calvin Griffith, George Stovey, Warren Spahn, Harry Taylor, Donald Spencer, Joe Garagiola, Dan Bankhead, Bobby Bragan, Muddy Ruel, Ralph Branca, Ed Stevens, Josh Gibson, Joe Page, Dan Parker, George McQuinn, Joe Hatten, Hugh Casey, Pee Wee Reese, Allie Reynolds, Johnny Lindell, Spider Jorgensen, Lawrence Douglas Wilder, Mr. Jackie Robinson, Branch Rickey, Clyde King, Ron Rapoport, Jeff Heath, Lennie Merullo, Walter Lanier Barber, Ben Chapman, Al Gionfriddo, Dave Koslo, Vic Lombardi, Mabel C. Brown, Kenneth B. Clark, Ron Northey, Malcolm Little, Johnny Schmitz, Clif Keane, Leo Ernest Durocher, Larry MacPhail, Bobby Parker
genres: Biography, Baseball, Nonfiction, Sports, American History, Biography Memoir, 20th Century, Race, History, Amazon
ratings_count: 1640
publisher: Tantor Audio