Category: History

Jackie Robinson Takes the Field

Jackie Robinson On April 15, 1947 as a soft breeze blew across Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, Jackie Robinson took his position at first base to play his first official Major League Baseball game for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson was 28 years old, having served in the U.S. Army and played in the Negro American League before Dodger general manager Branch Rickey recruited Robinson in 1945 to join the Dodger organization.

On this date against the Boston Braves, Robinson broke the color barrier that had existed in baseball for more than fifty years.  The last such player before Robinson was catcher Fleetwood Walker who played for the American Association’s Toledo Blue Stockings in 1884.

Robinson’s major league career that began that day would not be easy. But Robinson triumphed over the hate he encountered, both as a man and as a player, making him the greatest hero of any sport.

Many were hostile to him, but many others admired Robinson at the time. The radio even played a song about him in 1949, “Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit that Ball?”

Baseball eventually recognized his accomplishments too. On this date in 1997, Major League Baseball retired his number 42, making it the first number retired for all teams.

Robinson’s Major League Debut

To go back and relive that sunny day at Ebbets Field on this date in 1947, listen to this 2007 NPR interview with writer Jonathan Eig, who wrote a book about Robinson’s first year called Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season. The interview discusses the historic game played this date in 1947.

Movies About Robinson

In 2013, a very good movie bearing the name of Robinson’s number 42 was released. But another earlier movie from 1950 told his story starring Jackie Robinson himself in The Jackie Robinson Story.

Below is the entire film, although the sound quality is not great. The recreation of his Major League debut begins around the 54-minute mark. The movie condenses events to give Robinson a triple on a day the first baseman went hitless.  In the real game, he did score the go-ahead run after reaching on an error.

Another Rookie Debuting On This Date

Finally, here is a trivia question about that April 15, 1947 game. On that date, one other rookie besides Robinson took the field for the Dodgers that day, who was it?

As explained in the video above, the other rookie was Spider Jorgensen.  Jorgenson was called up on such short notice that he did not have a glove. But his new teammate Jackie Robinson loaned Jorgensen one of his gloves.

Using that glove, third-baseman Jorgensen fielded a ball hit by Boston’s Dick Culler, throwing it to Robinson at first base to make the first out of the game.  The Dodgers won by a score of 5–3.

At the end of the 1947 season, the Dodgers won the National League Pennant.  And Robinson won the Rookie of the Year Award, which is now called the Jackie Robinson Award.

1950 photo of Jackie Robinson and The Jackie Robinson Story via public domain. Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Oh Oh Domino (Theory)

    Domino theory
    During a news conference on April 7, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower first invoked the use of “dominoes” in a phrase that would be used by four presidents for justifying United States involvement in Vietnam. Thus, was born the domino theory.

    During the press conference, Robert Richards of Copley Press asked Pres. Eisenhower to comment “on the strategic importance of Indochina to the free world.” Eisenhower first discussed the situation’s impact on production of materials for the world and on humans being under a dictatorship. Then, he considered the broader implications:
    Eisenhower Domino

    “Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the ‘falling domino’ principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences.”

    Eisenhower continued that the impact could spread to Japan, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand. Other questions about Indochina followed, as well as questions on other topics, such as the possible statehood of Hawaii and Alaska. But it was his comment about pieces used in a tile game that would have lasting significance. Presidents after him — John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon — would continue to grapple with the fear of not wanting to be the president who let the dominoes fall.

    Sixteen years after Pres. Eisenhower’s comments, while the U.S. was still embroiled in Vietnam and while Pres. Eisenhower’s vice-president Richard Nixon now served as president, America had “Domino” on its mind in a completely different context. They were singing along with a hit song by Van Morrison.

    Van Morrison’s “Domino” appeared as the opening song on his album His Band and the Street Choir. After being released as a single, it became a top-10 hit and Van Morrison’s highest charting single ever. The album is a “valentine to the R&B” music that inspired the Northern Irish singer.

    The song’s title had nothing to do with fears of Communists; it was a tribute to singer Fats Domino. Instead of the “dominoes” behind the nation’s war, the Van Morrison song was an uplifting song of renewal as the singer thinks “it’s time for a change” and only asks for some rhythm and blues music.

    The U.S.’s military involvement in Vietnam continued for several more years after “Domino” appeared on the charts. Pres. Eisenhower’s fears of the dominoes falling across the world, though, did not come to fruition. Fortunately, politicians no longer use dominoes to justify military force, and most kids only know “dominoes” as a game or a place to buy pizza. And we still listen to Van Morrison’s “Domino.” Lord have mercy.

    What is your favorite Van Morrison song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    That Dirty Little Coward That Shot Mr. Howard

    Ford Jesse James“Now the people held their breath,
    When they heard of Jesse’s death;
    They wondered how he’d ever come to fall;
    Robert Ford it was a fact,
    He shot Jesse in the back,
    While Jesse hung a picture on a wall.”

    On April 3, 1882, Robert “Bob” Ford shot Jesse James in the back, thus ensuring both men would be immortalized in one of the great American folk songs. The song “Jesse James,” with the lyrics quoted above, referred to the outlaw Jesse Woodson James by his famous real name and by the alias he was using at the time of his death, Thomas Howard. The song has been covered by singers such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, and Van Morrison.

    Singer-songwriter Nick Cave performed a version of the song in the excellent 2007 movie, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, with Brad Pitt as Jesse James and Casey Affleck as Robert Ford. This scene from the movie shows how Ford laid poor Jesse in his grave. Note that these clips contain spoilers from the movie.

    Here is Nick Cave’s appearance in the movie, singing “Jesse James” in a saloon to Robert Ford (Affleck).

    As for the aftermath of Jesse’s death, Ford and his brother Charles Ford had been promised a large reward by Missouri Governor Thomas T. Crittenden, but they only received a small portion of what was promised. And they were surprised at the hostility they received for killing James.

    Both brothers met tragic ends. In 1884, the terminally ill Charles killed himself. Robert Ford, like James, would later be assassinated. A little more than ten years after Jesse’s death, on June 8, 1892 Edward O’Kelley surprised Ford by calling his name in Ford’s Colorado tent saloon, shooting Ford dead as he turned. Robert Ford’s tragic end is captured in this beautiful ending sequence from The Assassination of Jesse James.

    Robert Ford and Jesse James are forever linked, although Jesse’s family understandably did not appreciate the association. Ford’s tombstone reads, “The man who shot Jesse James.” By contrast, Jesse James’s tombstone would read: “Jesse W. James, Died April 3, 1882, Aged 34 years, 6 months, 28 days, Murdered by a traitor and a coward whose name is not worthy to appear here.”

    Photo of Robert Ford via public domain.

    What is your favorite story of an outlaw’s death? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    My Lai and “The Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley”

    On March 16, 1968, U.S. troops in Vietnam killed approximately 300-500 unarmed civilians in what became known as the My Lai Massacre. But it would not be until November 1969 before the incident became public knowledge in the United States.

    Despite various charges being filed, only Second Lieutenant William Calley Jr., a platoon leader in C Company, would be convicted of any crimes. After being found guilty of killing a number of people in the village, he was sentenced to life in prison, although he would serve three and a half years.

    When Calley’s trial began in late 1970, I was a little kid, absorbing various pieces about the war in Vietnam, as they filtered through various lenses of my childhood. I did not understand much about My Lai, but it became more prominent in my consciousness when after a trip to a local five-and-dime store, I picked up what looked like an interesting 45 RPM record called “The Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley.”

    “The Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley”

    I did not know anything about the record, so I suppose I selected it because the title looked interesting.  I thought it might be one of those funny records, popular at the time, that featured questions with humorous responses using song clips.  So, with nothing else I wanted to buy that week with my allowance, I took “The Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley” home.

    When I played it on my small record player, I became mesmerized by the song with the recognizable music of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” I played it over and over again.

    There were other songs about Calley and My Lai at the time.  But I only remember “The Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley,” written by Julian Wilson and James M. Smith.  At least three different artists recorded the song. The song was eventually covered by John Deere and Jones Bros. & Log Cabin Boys.  At one point, Tex Ritter covered the song but then his company decided it was too controversial to release.

    But the version I bought was the original by Terry Nelson and “C” Company.  The recording featured Alabama disc jockey Terry Nelson Skinner, who would later write the Air Supply hit “Even the Nights are Better.” Studio musicians provided the music. The group sold over one million copies of the single, and it peaked at number thirty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1971.

    The flip side to “The Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley” was another song about the horrors of being a soldier in the war called “Routine Patrol.”  I repeatedly listened to that song too, although it was more scary, documenting men killed on a “routine patrol,” counting down like “Ten Little Indians.”

    The Real Story and Some Real Heroes

    As “The Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley” illustrates, many sided with Calley in debates about what happened at My Lai.  They claimed he was doing his duty in a land where one could not easily recognize the enemy.

    Because my childhood understanding of the story came from the song, that would be my image for awhile. But as much as I liked the record, something always seemed off to me about the tale. Growing up as a kid during that time, we knew that Vietnam was complicated and an awful mess, whichever side you were on.

    My Lai
    Hugh Thompson Jr.

    Calley rarely spoke about the My Lai massacre. In 2009, though, he apologized for his part in the killings, although he continued to assert that he was following orders on that day.

    Unfortunately, because I learned about My Lai from the song, I only knew the name of Calley. I did not know the names of those innocent people who were killed.

    And it would be decades before I would learn that there were real heroes that day, including helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson, Jr. and his crew Lawrence Colburn and Glenn Andreotta. The three men were flying in the area when they saw the massacre taking place. Backed by Colburn and Andreotta, Thompson intervened at the risk of his own safety to stop the slaughter and save the lives of many civilians. After people learned about what happened at My Lai, some Americans attacked Thompson instead of recognizing him as a hero.

    It is a shame that it took so long before I learned about Thompson, Colburn, and Andreotta. Someone should have written a song about them.

    Photo of Hugh Thompson, Jr. via public domain.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    President Obama Appears on “Between Two Ferns”

    Zack Obama
    Actor Zach Galifiankis has been using his comedy of awkwardness to interview various guests on his fake cable access show, “Between Two Ferns,” on the Funny or Die comedy website. The “show,” which runs only a few minutes, has featured such superstars as Justin Bieber, Jennifer Aniston, and Sean Penn. This week, he scored what might be his most powerful guest, President Barack Obama (“Community Organizer”).

    The show approached the president about appearing as a way to promote the Affordable Care Act. And the president went along with the idea, partaking in Galifiankis’s offbeat humor while encouraging folks to sign up at healthcare.gov. And the president gives back too. When Galifiankis asks, “What is it like to be the last black president?,” Pres. Obama responds, “What is it like for this to be the last time you ever talk to a president?” Check it out.

    What is your favorite episode of “Between Two Ferns”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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