When Don Newcombe speaks, Blue Notes listens
Listening to Petros and Money on AM 570 on Monday, they had a great interview with Dodgers great Don Newcombe, a man who experienced the sort of bigotry presented by segregated baseball and a segregated America. On a day dedicated to the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., Newcombe lamented that for many young people in this country, there's less awareness of the impact Jackie Robinson had on race relations and civil rights.
You can, he reminded the audience, draw a line from the integration of baseball to the inauguration of the first African American president. A day for honoring this sort of history is incomplete without praise for Jackie Robinson.
Well, who are we to defy Don Newcombe?
BK
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Newk is so right-on!!!...........and would love for Matt Kemp to change his uniform number to #44, in honor of "O" being first African-American prez, and of course #44 overall
Posted by: DodBro | January 20, 2009 at 10:54 PM
There are so many parallels between Obama and Jackie Robinson that it would be foolish not to draw a line between them. Obama has had to be the same kind of person Jackie was: strong, resilient, patient, and enduring, resisting the urge to fight back against racism with aggression.
I hope to live to see the day when the House and Senate are as integrated as baseball is today.
And I suspect you'll see a good number of black players change their uniform number to 44 in honor of Barack Obama. What a great idea.
Posted by: SaMo | January 21, 2009 at 07:08 AM
Samo,
"And I suspect you'll see a good number of black players change their uniform number to 44 in honor of Barack Obama. What a great idea."
Good call, both as a prediction and a tribute.
AK
Posted by: kambrothers | January 21, 2009 at 07:33 AM
AK:
A side benefit: countless fans of later generations will wonder how Hank Aaron had the foresight to wear such an important number.
Posted by: SaMo | January 21, 2009 at 08:38 AM
One should never argue with the only man in baseball history to win all three of baseball's major awards: the Rookie of the Year (1949), Cy Young (1956), and MVP (1956) Awards.
Posted by: SaMo | January 21, 2009 at 08:44 AM
Jackie Robinson wore #42, ...
Posted by: old dodger | January 21, 2009 at 10:43 AM
And Jackie's number is retired by all clubs
Posted by: K T | January 21, 2009 at 01:46 PM
SaMo AK..I guess you guys are pretty clueless about baseball history, aren't you?
Posted by: old dodger | January 21, 2009 at 03:53 PM
Old Dodger,
"SaMo AK..I guess you guys are pretty clueless about baseball history, aren't you?"
In what way, Yoda?
AK
Posted by: kambrothers | January 21, 2009 at 04:52 PM
Speaking of parallels, and then metaphors: I remember watching Jackie and Gil, on TV both finding themselves on third base,then doing what had to be done: running side by side and sliding into home. Was that against the Giants?
Posted by: Bob Armstrong | January 22, 2009 at 04:08 AM
old dodger--I guess you're pretty clueless about the dynamics of basic human conversation, aren't you?
Posted by: VA Blueblood | January 22, 2009 at 10:37 AM