He knew that the future of blacks in baseball depended on it. The pressure was enormous, overwhelming, and unbearable at times. I don't know how he held up. The sport to which I owe so much has undergone profound changes, but it's still baseball. Kids still imitate their heroes on playgrounds.
Fans still ruin expensive suits going after foul balls that cost five dollars.
They have fantastic salaries, multiple investments, but we had one thing they don't have today, the train ride. We didn't always like it, but those rides kept us close as a team and as friends. If you got a ball in the air, you had a chance to get it out. What a player does best, he should practice least. Practice is for problems.