Book Description

"That's what this book is about . . . how integration has come to baseball and how it can be achieved in every corner of the land."-Jackie Robinson

Back in print for the first time since its initial publication in 1964, Baseball Has Done It is an oral history of baseball and racial integration as told by its greatest players to the man who broke the color line, Jackie Robinson. This one-of-a-kind classic features rare and candid interviews conducted by Robinson with ballplayers who played and lived through the first generation of racial integration in baseball. A who's who of baseball legends-Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Roy Campanella, Alvin Dark, Larry Doby, Carl Erskine, Elston Howard, Monte Irvin, Don Newcombe, Frank Robinson and Bill White-share the spotlight with players from the Negro Leagues, baseball executives like Branch Rickey and Ford Frick and Jackie Robinson himself to create a diverse look at the effects of integration on baseball and society. Much more than a sports book, Baseball Has Done It is an important document of the struggle for civil rights in the United States, one that speaks to the past while looking toward the future, with the belief that if baseball has done it-achieve integration-the rest of society can too. As Jackie Robinson said, "The ballplayers who have spoken in these pages have told the truth. They reveal that total integration is the only cure for the disease of hatred which is afflicting our America!"

This first-ever reprint edition will feature an introduction from the Academy Award-winning director Spike Lee as well as a selection of vintage photographs that were specifically selected for this new edition.

Reviews (1)

a sensitive and penetrating look at Jackie Robinson
Weidhorn's writing is beautiful and his look at Jackie Robinson shows the trials he underwent and the resolve which took him through. This book cannot fail to move and inspire as well as inform and teach. No kid should miss it. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

None of the other Robinson books are as good as this
This is the only Robinson biography I've read that tells me about the ballplayer and athlete - the others either try to turn him into a saint or a political figure. This book, while not ignoring his role or his image, places that in perspective and sticks with the story of what he actually did, rather than indulging in hagiography. And the revelations about what he actually did are startling. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Jackie Robinson's story as a case study of Determination
This juvenile biography uses the story of Jackie Robinson to demonstrate the value of determination.Deborah Woodworth begins with a story of young Jackie Robinson sitting at a lunch counter until he is finally served and follows his life and career until he helped start the Freedom National Bank in New York City, which was owned and operated by blacks.This book covers not only Robinson's baseball career, but his time his success in college sports and his time in the U.S. Army, including the court-martial episode.Each episode covered is specifically related to the idea of determination.The illustrations by Robin Lawrie are certainly adequate, although a few do tend to be a bit too cartoonish (but I was impressed that in the picture of the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers team is accurate in that one guy in the back row is not looking at the camera).The back of the book includes a Study Guide that asks some basic questions and then provides the answers on the next page.This book will provide a decent introduction for young readers in Robinson's life and if we are talking about determination you could not possibly have a better example in terms of 20th century America.

Other titles in this series look at Sitting Bull for bravery, Clara Barton for compassion, Marie Curie for curiosity, Martin Luther King, Jr. for Dreams, Mahatma Gandhi for forgiveness, Elizabeth Barrett Browning for love, and Thomas Alva Edison for perseverance.I think it is not entirely coincidental that only one of these eight volumes uses a white male as the role model. ... Read more