Baseball and Change

Most people know who Branch Rickey is. But do you know how Thurgood Marshall, Branch Rickey, Earl Warren and Jackie Robinson are connected?

Branch Rickey was the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers who signed Jackie Robinson to a professional baseball contract helping him break the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947. A barrier put into place after Moses Fleetwood Walker was banned from professional baseball in the late 1800’s.

Thurgood Marshall also broke barriers. Some people say that Thurgood Marshall might be the most important black man and one of the most impactful lawyers of the 20^th century after he rose to prominence on the United States Supreme Court. Marshall was the last best hope for many people fighting injustice in southern backwater towns, against a system stacked against them. He fought segregation in the courtroom and was a champion for the rights of the constitution being applied equally regardless of your economic or social standing.

So where does Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey connect with Earl Warren? The first three are recognized as champions of equal rights. Marshall argued several cases before the US Supreme Court resulting in the dismantling of Jim Crow. Marshall fought for and won victories against Jim Crow laws and these victories helped set him up for directly taking on Plessy v. Ferguson. Marshall argued Brown versus the Board of Education in 1954 before the Supreme Court effectively saying separate educational facilities are inherently unequal, and therefore violate the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment of the United States Constitution. This decision ultimately ended segregation in public schools.

When Marshall made that argument, what made him think that a country so steeped in prejudice and segregation was ready for this kind of a change? Perhaps it was his faith in the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court who from 1953-1969 was a man named Earl Warren. Warren’s court presided over a major shift in American constitutional jurisprudence. Warren is generally considered one of the most influential Supreme Court Justices in the history of the United States.

Earl Warren, according to his son Earl Warren Jr. in a videotape message to the 19^th Annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture felt that that it was the actions initiated by Branch Rickey in 1947 and the success of his partnership with Jackie Robinson in breaking the color barrier that made Earl Warren comfortable with pushing for passage of this reform. Rickey and Robinson demonstrated that desegregation could be successful and accepted in American society. It would not be easy but a majority of America supported it. Warren recognized their efforts and felt the time was right in this case.

Earl Warren served three terms as Governor of California. It was during his third term, Happy Chandler announced he was retiring as Commissioner of baseball. Warren was asked to take the job by several baseball owners. After thinking about it, Warren a strong enthusiast for all sports, but most notably baseball, turned down the offer. He told his son he felt an obligation to fulfill his commitment to the people of California who had elected him Governor. Warren later was offered a seat on the Supreme Court by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and eagerly looked forward to moving to the east coast as an opportunity to serve and to see more baseball.

Branch Rickey’s action of signing Jackie Robison was not greeted with support from the majority of major league baseball owners and players. Rickey, said he had given a lot of thought to discrimination since his coaching days at Ohio Wesleyan University in the early 1900s. He recalled that during a trip to South Bend, Ind., to play Notre Dame, the team’s only black ballplayer, Charles Thomas, was denied a room at their hotel. Rickey vowed to make a difference someday.

Rickey’s move to desegregate professional baseball came a full year before the United States desegregated the military.  And it was seven years before Marshall successfully argued Brown versus the Board of Education. Robinson endured incredible verbal abuse to break a barrier many felt would not be broken. Warren feeling this was the opportune time, stood tall for what he felt was right. These men played vitally important roles in the desegregation of America and each faced overwhelming obstacles to accomplish change. Change does not come easy and while each of these four men, two white and two black, paid a heavy price they helped move America forward and helped it grow.