The breakthrough stars - Blacks in Sports: The Jackie Robinson Revolution

Ebony, August, 1992 by Hans J. Massaquoi

THE immortality of Jackie Robinson as the man who started the ball rolling, so to speak, has been assured in the written and oral history of America. Not so prominently remembered is a relatively small roster of Black sports pioneers who, within a few years of Robinson's historic feat on April 15, 1947, also crashed racial barriers through superior follow-up performances on the nation's professional baseball, football and basketball teams. In the end, it was their unmatched ability that convinced Whites that by denying Blacks access to the games, they were denying themselves.

Some of these race pioneers of the nation's three major team sports have died, leaving behind only an occasional footnote in the annals of sports. Some have turned into unsung heroes who are living ordinary people's lives in total obscurity. And then there are some who have succeeded in parlaying their fame in the sports arenas into living-legend status and lucrative business and consultant careers.

BASEBALL

In baseball's National League, six outstanding Black athletes who followed closely in Jackie Robinson's footsteps were his Brooklyn (now Los Angeles) Dodgers teammates, pitcher Dan Bankhead (1947), catcher Roy Campanella (1948), pitchers Don Newcombe (1949), John Wright and Joe Black (1952) and second baseman Jim (Junior) Gilliam (1953). All of them, including Robinson, reportedly signed initial contracts for a monthly salary of $1,800. Campanella followed his buddy Jackie Robinson not only on the playing field but also--in 1969--into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1958, Campanella's baseball career came to an abrupt end when his car skidded off the road and crashed into a pole, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

Today, Campanella lives in Los Angeles where he is an executive in the Dodgers' community relations program. At press time, he was hospitalized with a variety of health problems related to his paralysis. Newcombe, who also lives in Los Angeles, heads his own business, Newcombe Enterprises, a consulting firm with clients in various industries, including the Dodgers. Prior to retiring from baseball, Newcombe finished his career as No. 32 on the all-time list for winning percentage. Gilliam died in 1978 after spending his entire 14-year career with the team. joe Black, who retired from baseball in 1957, is a consultant to the commissioner of baseball and for Dial Corporation in Phoenix, Ariz.

The first three Blacks signed by the New York (now San Francisco) Giants were Henry (Hank) Thompson (1949) [Thompson had already integrated the St. Louis Browns in 1947], Monfort (Monte) Irvin (1949) and Willie Mays (1951). Mays, who went on to become a baseball superstar, reportedly signed for a paltry $5,000 a year. He and Irvin became Hall of Famers in 1979 and 1973, respectively.

Retired in 1973, Mays works as a public relations consultant for an Atlantic City, N.J., hotel. Irvin, who retired in 1960, operates a baseball card shop out of Homosassa, Fla. Their teammate, Hank

Other National League trailblazers were Sam (Jet) Jethroe, a switch hitter for the Boston Braves, who led the league with 35 stolen bases per year in 1950 and 1951, and Bill Bruton, the league's 1953 and 1954 record setter for stolen bases.

An entrepreneur like many of his former colleagues, Jethro lives in Erie, Pa., where he operates a restaurant an lounge. Bruton, who settled in Pontiac, Mich., following his retirement fro baseball in 1959, is a consultant in th automotive industry.

In 1953, second baseman Gene Bake and shortstop Ernie Banks became th first Black players to integrate the Chicago Cubs. Banks, who came to be known as "Mr. Cub," left a long string of baseball records that made him the third Black player elected to the Hall of Fame.

Today, Banks divides his time between homes in Chicago and Los Angeles while running his Ernie Banks International Enterprises, a sporting goods marketing firm. Baker retired from baseball in 1962 and now lives in Davenport, Iowa.

Superstar-to-be Hank Aaron joined the Boston Braves in 1954 and soon established himself as the National League's heaviest hitter with a batting average of .328. A member of the Hall of Fame, Aaron went on to break baseball's most coveted record. On April 8, 1974, he surpassed baseball idol Babe Ruth's record by hitting his 715th home run. After retiring from baseball in 1977, Aaron became a senior vice president and an assistant to the president of the Atlanta Braves.

In 1947, Larry Doby, a brilliant outfielder, became the first Black to play in the American League when he was signed by the Cleveland Indians. The following year, Doby promptly hit .301. He smashed 24 homers in 1949, and in 1952 led the league with a slugging average of .541, including 32 home runs and 104 runs scored. Doby became the first Black player to hit a home run in a World Series. After an illustrious career, he retired from baseball in 1959. Still active as an assistant to the commissioner of basball, he lives in Montclair, N.J.