AP story on Robinson's first game

At the same time, it's pretty remarkable how the basic structure of an AP game story has remained the same. If you change the quirky words and use modern players' names, it seems to me to read a lot like a story that might move on the wire today.

 

What did "Negro" stand for?

 

Yes, Leo Durocher was suspended for the entire 1947 season by commish Happy Chandler because of "association with gamblers." (Part of the story goes that he was running a rigged craps game that other ballplayers were losing money in. Bugsy Siegel was one of his frequent acquaintances, and Leo was known for vacationing in Havana to bet the horses in the offseason.)

Leo's association with gamblers, movie stars, et al, was well-documented -- in fact, he was a pool shark himself, and as a teenager had once hustled billiards legend Willie Hoppe -- he continued those associations in Manhattan while managing the Giants and in Chicago while managing the Cubs.

Durocher and Chandler had clashed often before -- this was the culmination of their feud. Durocher (who had managed the Dodgers since 1939) was suspended right before the season opener on April 15. Branch Rickey pleaded with the retired Burt Shotton to manage in Durocher's absence.

As a result, it was Shotton, not Durocher, who went down in history as Jackie Robinson's first manager.

But as far as the baseball world -- and Leo's many fans -- were concerned, the Dodgers were "pilotless" that day.

 

Why is the 60th anniversary more important than the 59th? Or 19th? Or 24th? All of a sudden we've forgotten Jackie Robinson and so we need to be reminded of the historical implications? Why?

 

Not just the word negro. It was "The Negro ..."

 

Because it's a nice round number. We did this in 1987, '97 and now 2007.

IIRC, the Dodgers (and Mets, for that matter) have some kind of commemoration every April 15.

At any rate, there can never be enough attention paid to Jackie Robinson. Not after 60 years, or 59, or 69, or 109.

 

I'm not saying that AP writer is unique. It was just an interesting reminder. Hell, somebody years ago posted the complete text of Grantland Rice's famous "Four Horsemen" story. It's damn near all play-by-play, and it's practically 100 inches long.

 

That Dodgers story, by the way, got ripped to shreds on SportsJournalists.com the next day. It got ugly, and the thread was locked.

 

Which was totally unfair. Just a bunch of 45-year-old agate clerks bashing the AP writer, who was a young stud from -- you guessed it -- Missouri.

 

The one posted above, I think.

Tongue in cheek.