In honor of Black History Month

In 1997, I wrote the following annotated bibliography about the integration of baseball for the MultiCultural Review, reproduced here in honor of Black History Month. It should be noted that there have been several additional books published during the interim on both African-American players and the Negro Leagues, including three biographies about Curt Flood, and Joe Posnanski’s The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, which recently won Spitball Magazine‘s Casey Award.

The Integration of Baseball:
An Annotated Bibliography of Non-Fiction Books

by Ron Kaplan

As baseball heads into a new millennium and players’ salaries seem to increase geometrically, it is easy to forget the humble beginnings of our national pastime. Almost as inconceivable to today’s sensibilities is the thought that black athletes were once kept out of “organized baseball,” that is, the major and minor leagues. But as Donn Rogosin wrote in his seminal Invisible Men: Life in Baseball’s Negro Leagues: “In segregated America, great black baseball players were forced to exhibit their talents behind a rigid color barrier – victims of the unwritten law that no black man is allowed in the major leagues.”Today Jackie Robinson, who broke that “color line” when he made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, is known as a champion of civil rights along with such respected leaders as Martin Luther King, Jr., W.E.B. DuBois, Rosa Parks and Frederick Douglas.To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Robinson’s first season, Major League Baseball declared that henceforth no one would wear Robinson’s uniform number 42. It was the ultimate tribute. Heretofore, each team decided for itself which of its players would receive such an honor. Numerous biographies were issued around this special occasion proclaiming his impact on baseball and society.

Concomitantly, there is an increased interest in the Negro Leagues, as Robinson’s predecessors, who had been denied the chance to play in the big leagues, were finally given their due. Founded in 1920 by Rube Foster, the Negro Leagues were home to some of the best players ever to play the game, regardless of venue. Some of the major’s best African American players served their apprenticeship there, such as Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, Larry Doby, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks, to name a few.

Since record keeping in the Negro Leagues was not on par with major league standards, much of the information is anecdotal – Josh Gibson pounded out 800 home runs; Paige won hundreds of games; “Cool Papa” Bell could switch off the light and be in bed before the room got dark.
Books on the integration of baseball include not only the ones who made it, but the ones who were left behind, born too soon to make it to the major leagues. The stories include bitter recollections of the insults and even dangers the players had to endure. The South was a bastion of minor league baseball, where the Negro League expatriates were sent for further training. (The Dodgers, sensing these possible problems, sent Robinson to their farm club in Montreal.)
Many of the books that follow will appeal to both the youngster first learning to love the sport and the old-timer looking back fondly on a time when baseball really was America’s game.

THE NEGRO LEAGUES
Ashe, Jr., Art. A Hard Road to Glory – Baseball: The African-American Athlete in Baseball: Putting the Record Straight. New York: Amistad, 1993. 260 pp. ISBN 156743035X, $9.95.
This encyclopedic offering includes information on players by time frame, Negro League teams, the pioneers of integration on each Major League (ML) team and an eclectic reference section of “All-Time Register of African-American Players, Managers, Umpires and Officials,” and each ML team’s roster of black players.

Dixon, Phil; Hannigan, Patrick J. The Negro Leagues: A Photographic History. Mattituck, NY: Amereon House, 1992. 364 pp. Illus. ISBN 0848804252. $44.95.
This richly-illustrated volume gives a good reckoning of the day to day life in the leagues. Barnstorming teams supplemented their income by taking on local teams as they rode through towns all over the country on the way to their next “professional” game. In fact, most of the lore of the Negro Leagues comes from such performances, where pitchers through with incredible speed, or batters clouted majestic home runs, giving the spectators stories to retell for years.

Holway, John B. Blackball Stars: Negro League Pioneers. Westport, CT: Meckler, 1988. 400 pp. Illus. ISBN 0887360947, $22.50.
—–—. The Complete Book of Baseball’s Negro Leagues: The Other Half of Baseball’s History. New York: Hastings House, 2001. 472 pp. Illus. ISBN 0803820070, $26.95.
Holway, author of several books about the Negro Leagues, does a thorough job in researching and reporting on the life and times of many outstanding players.

Kelley, Brent. Voices from the Negro Leagues: Conversations with 52 Baseball Standouts. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998. 342 pp. Illus. ISBN 0786403691, $45.00.
—. The Negro Leagues Revisited: Conversations with 66 More Baseball Heroes. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2000. 389 pp. Illus. ISBN 0786408758, $45.00.
Kelley breaks down these oral histories into two categories: before Jackie Robinson and afterwards. Many of the interviewees recount their disappointment over missing the cut, while at the same time sharing in the joy that Robinson’s integration meant for their community. Again, anecdotal information is the norm. Stories tend to gain import and detail as the years go by.

McNeil, William F. Cool Papas and Double Duties: The All-Time Greats of the Negro Leagues. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2001. 224 pp. Illus. ISBN 0786410744, $35.00.
McNeil asked more than 50 former Negro Leaguers and baseball historians to pick the players who they believe should have been included in the Hall of Fame, and to select an “All-Time Negro League All-Star Team.” The volume argues the merits of these choices and profiles the lives and careers of the players selected.

Moffi, Larry; Kronstadt, Jonathan. Crossing the Line: Black Major Leaguers, 1947-1959.
Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1994.241 pp. ISBN 0877455295, $12.95.
Player profiles set up in a year-by-year format and include statistics for such players as Robinson, Larry Doby, the majors’ second (and American League’s first) Black player; Roy Campanella, a three-time all-star whose career was struck down by a tragic car accident; Monte Irvin, a leader for the New York Giants who helped bring Willie Mays along, et al.

Peterson, Robert. Only the Ball Was White: A History of Legendary Black Players and All-Black Professional Teams. New York: McGraw-Hill. 406 pp. Illus. ISBN 0070495998, $7.95.
Considered one of the early classics about the Negro Leagues.

Ribowsky, Mark. A Complete History of the Negro Leagues, 1884-1955. New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1997. 352 pp. Illus. ISBN 0806518685, $18.95.
Ribowsky, another Negro League afficionado, shares his take on the history and lore of black baseball.

Riley, James A. Dandy, Day and the Devil. Cocoa, FL: TK Publishers, 1987. 153 pp. Illus. ISBN 0961402326, $12.95.
—. The Negro Leagues (African-American Achievers). Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 1996. ISBN 0791025918, $21.95.
—. The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1994. 926 pp. Illus. ISBN 0786700653, $37.50.
Along with Holway, Riley is one of the most prolific writers about the Negro Leagues. Dandy, Day and the Devil focuses on three outstanding players: third-baseman Ray Dandridge, pitcher Leon Day and shortstop Willie Wells, all of whom are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Negro Leagues is written for younger readers. Like most books of this kind, it’s a good, if brief, overview. The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues is an impressive reference work, encompassing black baseball from 1872-1950, covering over 4,000 players.

Rogosin, Donn. Invisible Men: Life in Baseball’s Negro Leagues. New York: Kodansha International, 1995. 285 pp. Illus. ISBN 1568360851, $14.00.
Similar in scope and presentation to Peterson’s Only the Ball Was White.

Rust Jr., Art “Get That Nigger off the Field!” A Sparkling, Informal History of the Black Man in Baseball. New York: Delacorte Press, 1976. 228 pp. Illus. $_____.
Rust was a popular New York City sportscaster who put together one of the first (and it remains one of the best) overviews of the Negro Leagues and the integration of baseball. Much of the book consists of recollections by the ballplayers themselves, including Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, Willie Mays and their professional descendants, as well as those who never made it to the Majors.

White, Sol; Malloy, Jerry. Sol White’s History of Colored Base Ball (with other documents on the Early Black Game, 1886-1936). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1996. ISBN 0803297831, $12.00.
White was an African-American ballplayer and manager who originally wrote this history of the early Negro game in 1907 as “part fund-raising effort, advertising brochure, team hype, celebration of black baseball, and throughout an implicit and explicit challenge to racism.” Malloy, an expert in the history of the Negro Leagues, adds a supplementary chapter and other documents, including contemporary newspaper interviews with White and a roster of 19-century black ballplayers.

ESPECIALLY FOR YOUNGER READERS
Brashler, William. The Story of Negro League Baseball. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1994. 166 pp. Illus. ISBN 0395671698, $15.95.
An excellent primer for younger readers, The Story of Negro League Baseball delves into a more “sociological” explanation of the exclusion of blacks from organized baseball including the birth (and death) of Jim Crow restrictions. Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Jackie Robinson are singled out for their contributions.

Margolies, Jacob. The Negro Leagues: The Story of Black Baseball (African-American Experience). New York: Franklin Watts, 1993. 128 pp. Illus. 053111130X, $24.00.

McKissack, Frederick J.; McKissack, Pat. Black Diamond: The Story of the Negro Baseball Leagues. New York: Scholastic Trade, 1998. 192 pp. Illus. ISBN 059068213X, $5.99.
Margolies’ tale of the hardships faced by black ballplayers, as well as their triumphs, was recognized as an NCSS-CBC “Notable 1994 Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies.” Black Diamond is another excellent introduction to black baseball.

INDIVIDUAL TEAMS
Bankes, Jim. The Pittsburgh Crawfords. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2001. 176 pp. Illus. ISBN 0786409924, $24.95.
Five of the Crawford players were voted into the Hall of Fame, including Paige, Bell, Gibson, Oscar Charleston and Judy Johnson. Bankes takes a close look at the lives and careers of these men and others who played for the Crawfords, one of the most formidable teams ever.

Bruce, Janet. The Kansas City Monarchs: Champions of Black Baseball. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1991. 182 pp. Illus. ISBN 0700603433, $12.95.
Bruce, then director of Kansas City’s Wornall House Museum and staff historian of the Kansas City Sports Report, among other historical outlets, compiled this history of another legendary team. At one time or another many of the great names in black baseball appeared on the Monarchs’ roster, including Bullet Joe Dugan, Cool Papa Bell, Turkey Stearnes, and Satchel Paige.

Debono, Paul. The Indianapolis ABCs: History of a Premier Team in the Negro Leagues. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1997. 239 pp. Illus. ISBN 0786403675, $32.50.
The ABCs were one of the earliest black teams, taking form in the early 1900s. They were one of the charter members when the Negro Leagues formed in 1920 but like many clubs, suffered from uneven management, player jumping and the vagaries inherent in the disorganized play of the day. Debono uses contemporary newspaper accounts and interviews with few former ABC players to relate the team’s story as well as the rise of Negro League baseball.

Overmyer, James. Queen of the Negro Leagues: Effa Manley and the Newark Eagles. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1998. 298 pp. Illus. ISBN 1578860016, $16.95.
Effa Manley not only had to battle racism, but sexism as well. Overmayer writes a stirring biography of one of baseball’s few women owners, whose team won the 1946 Negro World Series. Manley believed the players deserved better schedules, better travel, and better salaries. She also believed that the teams should play in their own ball parks rather than renting major league facilities. A true innovator, Manley was also greatly involved in social activism away from the field. She helped organize Harlem’s “Citizen’s League for Fair Play,” which organized a 1934 boycott of Harlem stores that refused to hire black salesclerks.

AUTOBIOGRAPHIES AND BIOGRAPHIES
Early biographies and autobiographies dealt mainly with the pride the players took in playing. Before Negro leaguers enjoyed their academic rebirth over the last 25 years or so, the books were almost exclusively about major leaguers. Although the authors included issues of racism and discrimination, the bulk of their stories concentrated on their current exploits for the most part.

JACKIE ROBINSON
Almost every American, whether a baseball fan or not, understands the contributions and sacrifices made by Robinson. Readers will note the surge of books released during the silver and golden anniversaries of Robinson’s debut. Thanks in part to Jim Bouton’s watershed Ball Four, much of the innocence and altruism was replaced in these later books by a degree of cynicism. For example, Branch Rickey was portrayed not merely as a beneficent social activist and forward thinker, but as a businessman, wanting to capitalize on having the first black player in the Majors, not only to improve the team, but to bring in a new market of fans.

Jackie Robinson “is not really a baseball story,” according to author and historian Jules Tygiel. “And if it is treated solely as a baseball story, then people are missing the point . . . . [it] is a very important element in creating the civil rights consensus of the 1950s and 1960s.”

The importance of Robinson’s feat was the focus of numerous books for children, most concentrating on his heroic stance and the respect and cooperation he ultimately earned from his teammates and opponents. These books tend to concentrate on his playing days, especially the early years, rather than life before and after baseball.

Adler, David A. Jackie Robinson: He Was The First (A First Biography). New York: Holiday House, 1989. 48pp. Illus. ISBN 0823407349, $15.95.

Allen, Maury. Jackie Robinson. A Life Remembered. New York: Franklin Watts, 1987. 260 pp. Illus. ISBN 0531150429, $16.95.

Barber, Red. 1947: When All Hell Broke Loose in Baseball. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1982. 367 pp. ISBN 0385177623, $16.95.
Barber was the well-respected radio voice of the Dodgers at the time of Robinson’s debut. As a Southerner, he had to look deep within himself to see if he could be objective about the situation. Fortunately, he was able to put aside his conditioning and accept Robinson for the man he was.

Coombs, Karen Mueller. Jackie Robinson: Baseball’s Civil Rights Legend (African-American Biographies). Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishing Inc., 1997. 128 pp. Illus. ISBN 0894906909, $20.95.

Dingle, Derek T. First in The Field: Baseball Hero Jackie Robinson. New York: Hyperion Books for Children. 1998. 48 pp. Illus. ISBN 0786803487. $16.95.

Dorinson, Joseph; Warmund, Joram. Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports and the American Dream. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1999. 296 pp. Illus. ISBN 0765603187, $21.95.
A thoughtful, scholarly exploration from varying fronts on Robinson’s impact on baseball, sports and society.

Falkner, David. Great Time Coming: The Life of Jackie Robinson From Baseball to Birmingham. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. 382 pp. Illus. ISBN 0671793365. $25.00.

Frommer, Harvey. Jackie Robinson (Impact Biography). NY: Franklin Watts, 1984. 117 pp. Illus. ISBN 0531048586, $12.90.
—. Rickey and Robinson: The Men Who Broke Baseball’s Color Barrier. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1982. 240 pp. Illus. ISBN 002541680, $13.95.
Jackie Robinson is a standard tale for youngsters about Robinson’s travails and triumphs. Rickey and Robinson is a much more focused examination of the relationship between the two strong-willed men. It remains one of the definitive pieces on the subject of Robinson’s signing and progress through the Dodger system.

O’Conner, Jim. Jackie Robinson and the Story of All-Black Baseball. New York: Random House, 1989. 48 pp. Illus. ISBN 0394924568, $7.99.

Rampersand, Arnold. Jackie Robinson. A Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997. 512 pp. Illus. ISBN 0679444955, $27.50.
One of the most thorough examinations of all facets of Robinson’s life, on and off the field, from his childhood in California to his premature death in 1972.

Robinson, Jackie; Smith, Wendell Jackie Robinson: My Own Story. New York:Greenberg, 1948.
—. Baseball Has Done It. New York: Lippincott, 1964.
—. Breakthrough to the Big Leagues: The Story of Jackie Robinson. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Corp., 1984. ISBN 1559050942, $17.95.
—.; Duckett, Alfred. I Never Had It Made: An Autobiography. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1972. 287 pp. ISBN 399110100, $7.95.
Following his debut season, Robinson and Smith, a renown African-American sportswriter, co-authored My Own Story, which, although interesting, lacks the incisiveness and distance required to address the civil rights issues of that era.

Originally written in 1964, only a few years after Robinson’s retirement, Breakthrough to the Big Leagues has some of that distance, but still refrains from dealing too much with the plight of black Americans during the civil rights movement.
Twenty-five years after his debut, Robinson published I Never Had It Made, a hard-hitting account of his career without the sugar-coating. In encompasses events of the 1960s and 1970s, including the death of Martin Luther King, Jr, as well as tragic death of Jackie Jr., that took a toll on Robinson’s life and his outlook on America.

Robinson, Rachel; Daniels, Lee. Jackie Robinson: An Intimate Portrait. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, 1996. 240 pp. Illus. ISBN 0810937291, $29.95.
Robinson, Sharon. Stealing Home: An Intimate Family Portrait by the Daughter of Jackie Robinson. NY: HarperCollins Publisher, 1996. 213 pp. Illus. ISBN 006017191X, $24.00.

Jackie’s widow and daughter both came out with these titles, dealing with a side of Robinson seldom seen by outsiders. Both are full of photos of life at the Robinson homestead, although Sharon’s is somewhat darker, addressing the relationship between father and children, especially, Jackie, Jr.

Scott, Richard. Jackie Robinson: First Black in Professional Baseball. Los Angeles: Melrose Square Publishing Company, 1991. 169 pp. Illus. ISBN 0870675559, $3.95.
The title is technically inaccurate, but for the purposes of telling the story that little fact can be left by the wayside.

Santella, Andrew. Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Line (Cornerstones of Freedom). New York: Children’s Press, 1996. ISBN 0516066374, $20.00.
Santella focuses on the impact Robinson’s debut had on other black athletes like Arthur Ashe.

Tygiel, Jules (Editor). Baseball’s Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983. 392 pp. Illus. ISBN 0195033000, $16.95.
—. The Jackie Robinson Reader: Perspectives on an American Hero. New York: Dutton Books, 1997. ISBN 0195033000, $16.95.
Tygiel, a professor at San Francisco State University, is one of the foremost authorities on baseball history as it interacts with American society as a whole. His seminal works on Robinson have been acclaimed by historians of both genres. Like Frommer, he focuses on the Rickey-Robinson relationship in Baseball’s Great Experiment. And his Reader is a seamless collection of writings that define the ballplayer on many levels.

OTHERS NEGRO LEAGUE STARS
SATCHEL PAIGE
Cline-Ransome, Lesa. Satchel Paige. NY: Simon and Schuster for Young Readers, 2000. 33 pp. Illus. ISBN 0689811519, $16.00.
Richly-illustrated with paintings by James E. Ransome, Satchel Paige hits the high points of the legendary pitcher’s career.

Humphrey, Kathryn Long. Satchel Paige. New York: Franklin Watts, 1988. 110 pp. Illus. ISBN 053110513X, $13.90.

Paige, Satchel; Lipman, David. Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1962. 285 pp. Illus. $4.50.
Paige was a confirmed embellisher, so as his legend took shape, he went along. This in no one detracts from his accomplishments, just adds spice to the soup.

Ribowsky, Mark. Don’t Look Back: Satchel Paige in the Shadows of Baseball. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994. 351 pp. Illus. ISBN 0671776746, $23.00.

JOSH GIBSON
Brashler, William. Josh Gibson: A Life in the Negro Leagues. New York: Harper and Row, 1978. 201 pp. Illus. ISBN 0060104465, $9.95.
Brashler, author of The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings, paints a compelling portrait of the enigmatic slugger, who some say may have been a better player than Babe Ruth.

Ribowsky, Mark. The Power and the Darkness: The Life of Josh Gibson in the Shadows of the Game. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996. 319 pp. Illus. ISBN 0684804026, $23.00.
Following the success of his biography of Paige, Ribowsky followed up with his slant on Gibson who was capable of hitting prodigious home runs despite playing ballparks inhospitable to power hitters. That he died at the age of 36, just three months before the integration of the Majors makes his story all the more tragic.

Holway, John B. Josh and Satch: The Life and Times of Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige. Westport, CT: Meckler, 1991. 238 pp. Illus. ISBN 0887363334, $32.50.
Combines two of the all-time Negro League greats in one volume.

BUCK LEONARD
Leonard, Buck; Riley, James A. Buck Leonard, The Black Lou Gehrig: An Autobiography. New York Carroll & Graf, 1995. 273 pp. Illus. ISBN 0786701196, $21.00.
Leonard was often compared to Gehrig, probably because this left-hand hitting first baseman spent 17 years with the Homestead Grays, one of the dynamos of Black baseball, in a time when jumping from team to team was common. Like the Yankees first-baseman, Leonard was even-tempered, modest and loyal and one of the best pure hitters to play in the Negro Leagues.

AFRICAN AMERICAN MAJOR LEAGUERS
With Robinson paving the way, most African Americans who followed had a slightly easier time of it, though it took years for them to gain full acceptance. After several years, the focus of these books, especially those written by and about players whose careers came after the turbulent 1960s and ‘70s, turned away from incidents of prejudice and discrimination to accomplishments on the field.

HANK AARON
Aaron, Hank; Bisher, Furman. “Aaron, r.f.”: The story of my life, the good times and the bad, from Mobile to Milwaukee to Atlanta. Cleveland: The World Publishing Co., 1968. 212 pp. Illus. $5.95.

Aaron, Hank; Wheeler, Lonnie. I Had a Hammer. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 333 pp. Illus. ISBN 006163216, $21.95.

Tolan, Sandy. Me and Hank: A Boy and His Hero, Twenty-Five Years Later. New York: The Free Press, 2000. 311 pp. Illus. ISBN 0684871300. $24.00.
In his collaborative effort with Bisher, Aaron wrote: “I’m no crusader, not in the way they use the word now. Never wanted to be. Let’s set the record straight before we go further.” He nevertheless relates some unpleasant realities about life in the south in the early 1950s. As he grew in stature (and farther separated from his playing days), he, too, wrote more of his anger and sadness over the treatment of African American athletes, especially while he was chasing Babe Ruth’s record. Several books came out by and about him in 1973-74, as he approached and set the mark, most examining that stressful period.
As a youth, Tolan wrote a letter of support to Aaron. The Atlanta slugger, who began his pro career in the Negro Leagues, was the target of vicious racism which included death threats. He replied to Tolan’s letter with thanks and years later the author and his hero sat down to discuss the difficulties of what should have been happy times.

Allen, Dick; Whitaker, Tim. Crash: The Life and Times of Dick Allen. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1989. 191 pp. Illus. ISBN 0899196578, $17.95.
Allen, a fearsome power hitter, played for several teams during the 1960-70s. Always outspoken, he was looked upon by the baseball establishment as a troublemaker, especially in Philadelphia, a town not know for its racial enlightenment.

Campanella, Roy. It’s Good to be Alive. Lincoln, NE:University of Nebraska Press, 1995. 306 pp. Illus. ISBN 0803263635, $10.95.
Campanella was in many ways the opposite of his teammate Jackie Robinson. Generally good-natured and apt to not make waves. The three-time Most Valuable Player was the victim of a car wreck prior to the 1958 season but he never lost his optimism. His story was told in a made-for-television movie by the same name, starring Paul Winfield as Campanella.

Cottrell, Robert Charles. The Best Pitcher in Baseball: The Life of Rube Foster, Negro League Giant. New York: New York University Press, 2001. 208 pp. Illus. ISBN 0814716148, $24.95.
After a career as one of the game’s great moundsmen, Foster lent his considerable organizational skills and drive into forming the Negro Leagues. Cottrell’s story, ostensibly about Foster’s pitching prowess, spends a great deal of time discussing the difficulties in getting a consensus among owners of black ballclubs. Many wanted the prestige of an established league but wanted to maintain their dictatorial controls. Foster convinced them that it was for the greater good to yield self-interest and the result can be seen through all the other books mentioned in this piece.

Flood, Curt; Coutert, Richard. The Way It Is. New York: Trident Press, 1971. 236 pp. Illus. ISBN 0671270761, $5.95.
Flood, more than any other player, is responsible for today’s free agent market. Rebelling against what he considered “being treated like chattel,” he refused to allow a trade from his long-time team, the St. Louis Cardinals, to the Philadelphia Phillies. He sued baseball for denying him the right to a livelihood and his case went all the way to the Supreme Court. His no-holds-barred writing about his career choices makes for revolutionary reading.

Gibson, Robert, with Phil Pepe. From Ghetto to Glory: The Story of Bob Gibson. Upper Saddle River, NJ:Prentice-Hall, Inc. 2001. 200 pp. Illus. ISBN 0133318508.
—. Wheeler, Lonnie. Stranger to the Game. New York: Viking, 1994. 286 pp. Illus. ISBN 0670847941, $22.95.
Even in his earlier book, Gibson, one of the hardest throwing pitchers of the game, pulls no punches in his descriptions of the racism inherent in playing for a midwest franchise. He points out several injustices suffered at the hands of otherwise welling-meaning front office leadership. Along with African-American teammates Bill White and Curt Flood, Gibson was instrumental in forcing the St. Louis Cardinals to fully integrate their spring training facilities, refusing to accept the “separate but equal” mentality that was still an acceptable practice.

Irvin, Monte; Riley, James A. Nice Guys Finish First: The Autobiography of Monte Irvin. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1996. 252 pp. Illus. ISBN 0786702540, $22.00.
Irvin was a former Negro-Leaguer who helped bring along Willie Mays as a member of the New York Giants. There is some consensus that had it not been for World War II, Irvin would have been the first African-American in the majors. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973.

Moore, Joseph Thomas. Pride Against Prejudice: The Biography of Larry Doby. New York: Praeger, 1988. 206 pp. Illus. ISBN 0275929841, $17.00.
Larry Doby was the second African American to play in the majors, on Bill Veeck’s Cleveland Indians. The power-hitting outfielder was a nine-time all-star (seven times with the Indians and twice with the Newark Eagles, whom he helped to a pennant in 1946) and helped Cleveland to A.L. championships in 1948 and 1954. He later managed the Chicago White Sox.

O’Neil, Buck; Wulf, Steve. I Was Right on Time: My Journey From the Negro Leagues to the Majors. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996. 254 pp. Illus. ISBN 0684803054, $23.00.
O’Neil was a mainstay in the Negro Leagues for nearly two decades, most prominently with the famous Kansas City Monarchs. As manager of that team, O’Neil was responsible for more than three dozen baseball players going to Major League organizations. His appearance in Ken Burns’ epic documentary on baseball was a major factor for a renewed interest in the Negro Leagues.

Robinson, Frank; Silverman, Al. My Life is Baseball, Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1968. 225 pp. Illus. $4.95.
—; Anderson, David. Frank: The First Year. New York: Holt, Reinhart and Winston, 1976. 280 pp. Illus. ISBN 0030149517.
—; Steinback, Berry. Extra Innings: The grand-slam response to Al Campanis’s controversial remarks about blacks in baseball. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1988. 270 pp. Illus. ISBN 0070531838, $16.95.
Schneider, Russell. Frank Robinson: The Making of a Manager. New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1976. 249 pp. Illus. ISBN 698107314.
Frank Robinson played from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s and was the first African American manager in the majors. Like Aaron, he became more outspoken about racial inequities after his retirement.

Robinson, Frazier; Bauer, Paul. Catching Dreams: My Life in the Negro Baseball Leagues. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1999. 230 pp. Illus. ISBN 081560563, $27.95.
“Slow” Robinson’s claim to fame was as Satchel Paige’s catcher. Cashing in on the popularity of O’Neil’s book, several relatively unheralded Negro League alumni began coming out with their own stories. Many of them border on folk-lore.

Roseboro, John; Libby, Bill. Glory Days with the Dodgers and Other Days with Others. New York: Athenium, 1978. 297 pp. Illus. ISBN 0689108648, $9.95.
Roseboro was an average athlete on some excellent teams. He played on the Dodgers after they left Brooklyn, then finished his career with the Minnesota Twins. As a solid defensive player, he will be forever remembered as the target of a bat swung in malice by Giants’ pitcher Juan Marichal.