Sunday, April 15, 2007

The Philadelphia Philles - losers since 1947


Considering the history the Philadelphia Phillies have had regarding Jackie Robinson and African-American ballplayers in general, I guess it's fitting that today's game, which was to honor the 60th anniversary of Robinson's breaking the color barrier, was rained out. More after the jump.

Today's Philles game against the Houston Astros, like all games across the country, was to commemorate Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers becoming the first African American to play in a Major League Baseball game on April 15, 1947. In addition to some pregame fesitivites, all players from both teams were to wear #42 as a tribute to Robinson. But as with games in Pittsburgh, Boston, Baltimore and New York, rain cancelled the game. After reading about the treatment the Phillies gave Robinson in 1947, maybe they should have just had a game-long apology session.

Yesterday I read a New York Times column by Stuart Miller, author of The 100 Greatest Days in New York Sports. In it he documented the truth vs. the myth of Robinson's first year in the major leagues, and mentioned the especially harsh treatment Robinson received in Philadelphia.

"The Dodgers played three games against the Philadelphia Phillies, who spewed so much racist vitriol - including aiming bats machine-gun-style at Robinson - that it drove him to the brink of abandoning the "noble experiment" in pacifism for a full-out attack."

Apparently Phillies manager Ben Chapman was the ringleader in this act, which reportedly got him suspended and fined. When the Dodgers came to Philadelphia later in the season, Chapman posed with Robinson for the above picture. But it doesn't sound like he was very contrite.

Well, ok you say, but that's just one incident. Well, guess which team was the last in the National League to integrate. That's right, it was the Phillies. But, hey, it only took them 10 years.

When asked why they never claimed another NL pennant after the 1950 Wiz Kids team, Phillies Center Fielder Richie Ashburn reportedly said, "We were all white." Guess that's why they called him Whitey.

No comments: