Americas Pastime

Chelsea Thomas
American Civilization 1700-026
April 19, 2015

I dont like sports. I dont like football, baseball, basketball, hockey, water polo, cricket,
and the list goes on. However, I can tell you what I do like and that would be inspirational
stories. Sport stories always make the best movies. From Remember the Titans to Miracle,
movies about athletics continue to inspire people across the globe because everyone loves an
underdog. The biopic of famous baseball star and civil rights activist, Jackie Robinson, was no
exception. While his movie, 42, was a box office hit, some people did have things to say about
its historical accuracy. With any historical movie the facts should be number one priority, but
Hollywood still needs to make a profit. 42 was an enjoyable cinematic experience, but it did
leave me wondering whether or not the history was portrayed correctly and Jackie Robinson
really was as amazing as everyone said.
The movie was made with tender care, making sure that the most important details were
represented correctly. Jackie Robinsons wife Rachel was heavily a part of the production and
weighed her influence on the script and story.
It was important to me because I wanted it to be an authentic piece. I wanted to get it
right. I didnt want them to make him an angry black man or some stereotype, so it was
important for me to be in there . . .1
She offered her guidance to the actors who portrayed people from her life and gave insight to the
relationship between her and Jackie. Rachel Robinson had been working for years to get the film
made; hoping to solidify the legacy of her late husband and show the world what he was really
all about.

1 Haylock, Rahshaun. "Rachel Robinson reflects on role in making '42'". FOX Sports
Interactive Media.

It was his commitment, she said. He was committed to change. He was committed to
Rickey and he was committed to himself and I think the commitment is the important
part of it.2
The movie begins with a quick history lesson about segregation. World War II is over and yet the
nation is still segregated even though black men were forced to fight for a country that still didnt
accept them. It explains the baseball industry and how the Jim Crow policies dictated that blacks
and whites would never play on the same team or field. Branch Rickey, the general manager of
the Brooklyn Dodgers, had others plans for his team. In 1945, Rickey began enacting his plan of
integrating baseball; a plan that would later be called The Great Experiment.3 Robinson was an
integral part of the experiment. The fact that he was a great ball player was only part of the
reason he was picked for Rickeys plan.
Robinson was known for his fighting spirit and conviction towards ending segregation, but he
also had a temper. During WWII, Robinson faced court martial for refusing to give up his seat at
the front of a bus. He also had experience playing on integrated teams. During his time at
UCLA, Robinson played four sports that had been mixed with white players. Before deciding to
bet on Jackie, Branch Rickey spoke with him; Branch let Jackie know that breaking the color
line was going to be very difficult and there were going to be a lot of people who wanted to see
him fail. And as the movie portrayed, Rickey then acted out scenes Robinson might face,4 to
see if Robinson was able to keep his composure. Jackie did indeed keep his cool, and promised
2 Haylock
3 "Breaking the color line: 19401946". Baseball, the Color Line, and Jackie
Robinson. Library of Congress. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
4 Breaking the color line: 19401946".

Rickey that he would stay silent in the face humiliation if he could play baseball. The agreement
was signed that day, sending Jackie to play for the Montreal Royals and Branch to concoct his
integration of baseball.
As Branch said, Jackie had it rough when he started his training with the Royals. Although his
teammates were easy to get along with and didnt mind offering support and coaching, the
manager, Clay Hopper, did not quiet his disgust for having a black player on his team. Problems
arose with players from the Dodgers team as well. During training camp in Panama, several
players started sending around a petition against working with Robinson. Not everyone agreed
with it however; shortstop Pee Wee Reese was quoted with saying I just wanted to play the
game, and it didnt matter to me whether he was black or green, he had a right to be there, too. 5
However, Dodger manager Leo Durocher made it very clear that he supported Robinsons spot in
training camp and that he was a great player. The news of the petition never reached Jackie, but
most of the players who signed it were eventually traded or fired from the Dodgers team.
Jackie Robinson became the first black major league baseball player on October 23, 1945,
gaining the number 42 and breaking the segregated color line of baseball. He was met with
hatred and profanity, but he kept his word to Rickey and didnt fight back. If the white
community was waiting to see Robinson fail, the black community stood beside him, praying for
success. The movie portrays a scene in which a young, future baseball star, Ed Charles, is given a
ball from Jackie Robinson as he boards a train. The boy later runs after the train as it pulls away
from the station. Charles and the other children present place their ears against the tracks,

5 Linge, Mary Kay. Jackie Robinson : A Biography. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press,
2007. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

listening to the train as it rumbles away. Although there is no evidence that Charles received a
baseball from Robinson, it is true that he watched him from the train station.
When the game was over we kids followed Jackie to the train station. When the train
pulled out, we ran down the tracks listening for the sounds as far as we could. And when
we couldn't hear it any longer, we stopped and put our ears to the track so we could feel
the vibrations of that train carrying Jackie Robinson. We wanted to be part of him as long
as we could."6
Even though Ed Charles didnt actually receive a baseball from Robinson, I personally liked the
scene for dramatic effect; giving Charles more inspiration to go out and follow in his heros
footsteps. On the opposite side of the spectrum however, it is true that Jackie had to face
undeniable cruelty and bigotry from the Philadelphia Phillies manager, Ben Chapman. The
movie was correct in depicting Chapman hurling insults to Robinson as he stepped up to the
plate. The racial slurs were filled with more hatred than anything else Robinson had to deal with
during his time in baseball; even some of his teammates were affected. Ed Stanky is remembered
for coming to Robinsons defense from the dugout, screaming at Chapman, Why dont you yell
at somebody who can answer back?7 Chapman tried to play his abuse of as regular baseball
chatter, but even the press noted the unending cruelty.
Bad press led Chapman to having to repent his ways. During the next encounter of the Dodgers
and Phillies, Chapman asked Robinson if they could meet and bury the hatchet. Robinson was
unconvinced that the manager actually meant what he said, but Robinson posed for a picture with
Chapman in front of the press. Chapman, holding true to his bigotry, refused to touch Robinson;
instead they both held the same baseball bat.
6 "42 Movie vs. 42 True Story - Real Branch Rickey, Jackie Robinson."
HistoryvsHollywood.com. Accessed April 22, 2015.
http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/42-movie-jackie-robinson.php.
7 Linge p. 64

Hollywood did add some embellishments to the first encounter with Ben Chapman. In the
movie, after Robinson endured rounds of abuse from Chapman, it shows Jackie storming off to
the hallway leading to the dugout to be alone. There he screams out his frustration and smashes a
bat against the wall as he cries and hunches over. Branch Rickey later comes in and talks to
Robinson, telling him that its going to be okay and Chapman is doing them a favor by building
sympathy from everyone. Jackie then recovers his composure and heads back out to the field to
win the game against the Phillies.
Jackies breaking scene never occurred, but Rachel Robinson didnt have anything to say
about it being in the movie. Chadwick Boseman, the actor who played Jackie Robinson said,
"At some point he had to break, and the fact that Rachel Robinson didn't fight us to take
(the scene) out (of the film), to me proves that it is true."8
Even though the scene didnt happen, I believe it made Jackie a more likeable character. He was
only a man, and a man can only take so much abuse before he cracks. Seeing him shatter his bat
against the wall and crying from anger really built up his character and did indeed spark up
sympathy from the audience.
The abuse didnt stop with Chapman. Jackie went on to go through physical abuse from
players from other teams. Theres scene is which Jackie is stepped on or spiked from a
Cardinals player named Enos Slaughter as Robinson waited on first base. Robinson was left
with a bleeding leg requiring stiches, but insisted that he could finish the game. Now there isnt
any evidence that Slaughter spiked Robinson on purpose despite eye witness accounts, but
Slaughter was known for his viciousness on the field, injuring other players from other teams.

8 "42 Movie vs. 42 True Story

"I've never in my life spoke against a black player. I was accused of spiking Jackie Robinson, but
I stepped on a lot of players."9
One of the pivotal points in the movies comes from a scene when the Dodgers are playing
Pittsburgh Pirates. Jackie goes up to bat against the pitcher Fritz Ostermueller. The movie
portrays Ostermueller as a racist who enjoyed throwing balls at Robinson threateningly; one of
the pitches flew towards Jackie, smashing him in the head. The field erupts with players from
both teams. A brawl starts as Robinson lays unconscious in the field, his teammates throwing
punches. However exciting and dramatic, the brawl scene caused some drama with the
Ostermueller family. One of Fritz Ostermuellers teammates defended him by saying he was
ordered10 to hit Robinson. But the Ostermueller family had something to say entirely different.
Sherrill Duesterhaus, Fritz Ostermuellers daughter states that the scene didnt happen that way
and her father wasnt a racist.
There is nothing I can do now but try to set the record straight, she said. My father
was a
good pitcher. He was a good man. You know, its hard to defend yourself while you are no
longer here. Im just a daughter trying to defend her dad.11
With research, it shows that the scene was skewed a bit from Hollywood. Fritz Ostermueller was
a left handed pitcher even though the movie showed he was a right. He wasnt racially
prejudiced, and he didnt hit Jackie Robinson in the head with a fast ball. There seems to be two
accounts of how Jackie was hit. Fritz Ostermeuller told his family about his encounter with
Robinson.
9 "42 Movie vs. 42 True Story
10 "42 Movie vs. 42 True Story
11 Kennedy, Wally (May 5, 2013). "It didnt happen that way; Daughter of pitcher
in 42 says movie unfair to her father". The Joplin Globe

He didnt give the pitcher much room I told my wife the night before I pitched that I
might have trouble with Robinson that one of my pitches would hit him, if he didnt
move back. I knew, too, some people would say it was intentional. It wasnt at all, but in
his first trip to the plate I hit him. After that, he moved back a couple of inches and
showed me some respect.12
This wasnt the only time Jackie had been hit with a baseball. During his starting career,
Robinson was hit at least 9 other times. Sherrill Duesterhaus was hurt by the lack of research put
in to her father. Hollywood took liberties with her family name, disregarding any evidence there
was about the incident.
Surely there were real incidents of racism that they could have used without making
something up. You shouldnt have to make anything up. Truth and fiction get blurred in
this picture. It put a spotlight on my father for the wrong reason.13
Some embellishments can be forgiven for entertainments sake, but deliberately sullying
someones name because of what they might have done is unacceptable. The other scenes and
incidents in the movie were correct or at least partial truth despite the breaking the bat scene.
There were other scenes that didnt have any evidence behind them. Did Pee Wee Reese really
walk out on the field and place his arm around Robinson when he was being taunted? No one
knows for sure, but the long lasting friendship between Robinson and Reese flourished for the
rest of their lives.
42 held strong with its facts and the writers and director did their best to bring us a biopic
that held true to who Jackie Robinson was. He was a great baseball player. Robinson was a good
man and father, a civil rights activist who never stopped fighting for what was right even until he
died. He changed how baseball was played and he stepped over the line that segregated the game

12 Kennedy p.2
13 Kennedy p.3

that he loved. He endured racism and hatred without defending himself; instead proving that he
belonged in the game, setting records and changing the style of baseball.
Robinson had an outstanding rookie season, winning the first Rookie of the Year award
by batting .297 and accompanying it with a healthy .383 on-base percentage He led the
league in stolen bases with 29. He also brought an electrifying base-running style that
rattled opposing pitchers and managers alike. And he did it all while playing first base, a
position he had never played before.14
Im not saying that Im a baseball fan, but I am saying that the movie 42 was incredibly
inspirational. I had heard of Jackie Robinson before, but I had no idea the role he played in the
baseball and civil rights were so important. Personally, Id say the movie was accurate, even if
some things were added. Hollywood could have done a whole lot more damage to the story of
Jackie Robinson, but instead they let his family dictate how they wanted him to be portrayed; the
man who was committed to Americas pastime and to change.

14 Ryan, Bob. "Hollywood Committed Some Errors in 42." The Boston Globe. May
12, 2013.

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Bibliography
"Breaking the Color Line 1940-1946". The Library of Congress. September 12, 2009.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/robinson/jr1940.html. (accessed April 19,
2015).

Haylock, Rahshaun. "Rachel Robinson reflects on role in making '42'". FOX Sports Interactive
Media.
Kennedy, Wally. "It didnt happen that way; Daughter of pitcher in 42 says movie unfair to
her father".

The Joplin Globe (Joplin, MO: Community Newspaper Holdings).

Retrieved May 6, 2013.

Linge, Mary Kay. Jackie Robinson: A Biography. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2007.
eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed April 19, 2015).

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Ryan, Bob. "Hollywood Committed Some Errors in 42." The Boston Globe. May 12, 2013.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/05/11/hollywood-errors-aside-tells-importantstory/U4ZeZ9OTmGH0X9v8SNDYeJ/story.html (accessed April 19, 2014).
Violett, B.J. (1997). "Teammates Recall Jackie Robinson's Legacy". UCLA Today. Retrieved
October 12,

2008.

"42 Movie vs. 42 True Story." HistoryvsHollywood.com. (Accessed April 19, 2015.)