My Father and Jackie Robinson’s First Game
My Father
My father was an award-winning, brilliant engineer and author. During his career, he earned masters degrees in electrical and mechanical engineering. Additionally, he received a Ph.D. in applied mathematics. Applied mathematics because the school he ta...
Ebbets Field
Unfortunately, I was born the winter the Dodgers left Brooklyn and never saw Ebbets Field. However, the stories of this small, intimate, neighborhood ballpark with its odd assortment of characters, enchant me. Each makes me wish I was just a bit older or could go back in time. I’d love to sit in the stands at Ebbets Field and experience the sights and sounds.In 1994, my 96-year-old grandmother - dad’s mother, died. On the day of the burial, he wanted to drive around the old neighborhood. It was his form of mourning. Ultimately, we went in search of the Ebbets Field location. The Ebbets Field Apartments now occupy the site. I didn’t realize the significance as we crossed the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues. However, my father remembered it as the location of the Dodgers planned replacement for Ebbets Field.
Introducing “Deceit Into Baseball”
In its heyday, people walked to Ebbets Field. However, fans were leaving Brooklyn for the suburbs. Driving to the ballpark was difficult because of the area’s limited parking. Moreover, mass transit to that part of Brooklyn was difficult. Accordingly, attendance was dropping. The Dodgers needed a new home.We all know the story. The city denied the Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley’s proposal. Instead, the influential public works administrator, Robert Moses, offered a site on Willets Point in Queens. O’Malley, would not move the Dodgers to Queens and they landed in Los Angeles. People still argue as to who is to blame for the loss of the Dodgers. Was it Moses or O’Malley or market forces? Maybe all three. However, my father’s opinion was clear. As we drove through the intersection he said, “that’s where Walter O’Malley introduced deceit into baseball.” The pain and loss never left him. In his mind it was Walter O’Malley’s fault. The Mets now play on Willets Point, in Queens.
Jackie Robinson
Every once in a while, the Brooklyn Dodgers would enter my consciousness. When I was four, my father and I met Duke Snider in the lobby of a San Francisco hotel. Snider was Brooklyn’s great centerfielder. He was “the Duke” in the song “Talkin’ Baseball (W...
The Poster
Over time, I started collecting photos and posters of Jackie. In my office, I have three framed posters. One of them is of Jackie stealing home against the Cubs in 1952. Jackie is sliding with his hat suspended in air. The catcher, Johnny Pramesa is stretching to make the tag. Preacher Rowe, the hitter, watching as Augie Guglielmo concentrates on making the call.2Then there is the famous picture of Jackie stealing home in the World Series. Yogi Berra in the foreground trying to make the tag. Jackie, with a look of determination, is deftly sliding into the plate. Finally, there is my sentimental favorite, “Jackie Robinson Leaving Ebbets Field, 1947.” In this photo, Jackie is walking away from the stadium on Sullivan Place. He is younger, no white hair, and walking with his memorable pigeon-toed stride. As always, he is elegantly dressed, wearing a light colored, camel coat. It’s a fabulous photo. The picture reminded my father of times long gone. When he saw it, he told me about Sullivan Place and Ebbets Field’s surroundings. He remarked that it must have been around opening day since banners and pennants were hanging from the stadium. He was right, it was the day after opening day in 1947. I realized then, that he loved Jackie as much as I did.
Opening Day
My father was associated with the Navy for most of his life. In 1947, he was on another tour of duty after he graduated from Yale. Learning that he would return to port in time for opening day, he wired his father, Raymond (my namesake) to get tickets. I don’t believe he realized Robinson would be playing that day. Jackie was not added to the roster until six days before the season started 3, I assume, after the tickets were purchased. Moreover, I doubt Jackie’s possible involvement was an incentive to go. Baseball runs in our blood. In those days - you went to opening day if you could. If you believe my father, that is how he was able to be at Ebbets Field that memorable April day. He was there, with my grandfather, the day Jackie Robinson, Branch Rickey and the Dodgers changed the world.
April 15, 1947
If my father read the Brooklyn Daily Eagle that Tuesday morning he would have seen the page one headline “Hatton on Hill as Dodgers Open Here.” Only the editorial on page eleven ”‘Play Ball’ at Ebbets Field Again” mentioned Jackie’s historic appearance. It was juxtaposed with Leo Durocher’s recent suspension: It’s very odd to read the piece now. The article doesn’t speak to the fact that fifteen of the sixteen MLB owners were against the move. There is no discussion of the petition some of the Dodgers signed to exclude Robinson.5 No mention of Clay Hooper’s (his Montreal manager) question “Mr. Rickey do you really think a n*****’s a human being?” 6 Nothing regarding the upcoming on-field confrontations and fan belligerence that I assume the writer expected. Nor is there the acknowledgment that the so-called “Gentleman’s Agreement” kept blacks out of baseball for decades. It does not speak to Josh Gibson, Satchel Page, and all the other players denied a chance to play in the major leagues. The normalcy of the piece is jarring. I don’t know if my father understood the significance of the day - although I assume he did. I certainly hope he did.
The Game
I assume the game started at 1:00 that Tuesday afternoon. Knowing my father, I’m sure he and his father saw the entire game. By today’s standards, it was a rather quick game; the Dodgers won in 2 hours and 26 minutes. Although the Dodgers would break attendance records in 1947 7, a quarter of the seats were empty. Only another 26,621 attendees watched the event along with my father and grandfather. In comparison, the previous year’s home opener against their hometown rivals, the New York Giants attracted 31,825.8 It seems to have been a good crowd, but not overwhelming. Possibly most notable was that an estimated 14,000 attendees were black. 9 Johnny Sain, a borderline hall of fame member and last man to pitch to Babe Ruth 10 started for the Braves against Brooklyn’s Joe Hatton. The rookie named Robinson started at first for Brooklyn.
Robinson’s Opening Day Performance
Jackie’s first three trips to the plate were inauspicious. He grounded to third in the bottom of the first. In the third, he flew out to left. And he ended the fifth inning when he grounded into double play, with the score tied. His day improved in his last at bat. In the seventh, Eddie Stanky walked to lead off, and Robinson bunted to move him to second. However, he reached base due to an error by the first baseman, Earl Torgenson. The error allowed him to advance to second, Stanky made it to third. With Stanky on third and Robinson on second, Pete Reiser promptly doubled to left. Stanky scored the tying run, Robinson the go ahead and ultimately, the winning run. The first, but not the last unearned run Robinson would cause. 11 It would seem that my father and grandfather enjoyed an exciting yet normal opening day. Typical, except that Robinson was in the lineup, and the so-called “Gentlemen’s Agreement” broken forever.
Reaction to the Game
Wednesday’s headline on the Eagles sports page was “‘Old” Reiser, ‘New’ Hermanski Stars of Dodgers’ Opening Day Triumph”. Robinson appeared in a picture with the caption “New Dodger Infield” under the headline. Tommy Holmes column “Clinical Notes on Opening Day” mentioned his play under the subheading “Robinson and Sain:” Was this the first mention of a player’s “white teeth” in a baseball column? Lyle Spatz wrote this about the game (my emphasis added):
April 15, 2012
My father died on April 15th, 2012. Exactly, sixty-five years after he and the grandfather I never met, saw what should have been, an uneventful opening day. However, that was the day they saw Jackie Robinson, Branch Rickey and the Brooklyn Dodgers change the world. Every April 15th, I think about my father, Jackie Robinson, baseball and how one can effect positive change.
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