Press Box Red: The Story Of Lester Rodney,

by Irwin Silber, Jules Tygiel (Foreword)

Long before Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to a Brooklyn Dodger contract in 1945, Lester Rodney, the newly hired and first sports editor of the Communist Daily Worker, launched the campaign that proved decisive in eventually breaking baseball's color line. But in the hostile anti-Communist climate of those years and for many years after, Rodney's story remained largely unknown. It therefore came as a surprise to many when Arnold Rampersad, in his authoritative 1997 biography of Jackie Robinson, In the campaign to end Jim Crow in baseball, the most vigorous efforts came from the Communist press, most notably from Lester Rodney. Now Press Box Red tells the story of that remarkable 11-year campaign and of Rodney's unique career covering sports for the Daily Worker until he left the Communist Party in 1958. Press Box Red is packed with first-hand accounts of Rodney's challenges to the high muck-a-mucks of professional and collegiate sports, and contains frank and frequently humorous encounters with owners, managers, and coaches like Branch Rickey, Larry MacPhail, Bill Veeck, Leo Durocher, Casey Stengel, Nat Holman, Clair Bee and numerous athletes including Robinson, Roy

Genres: Sports, Baseball

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2003

Reviews

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a welcome rebuttal of the great man school of history: the convention holds that Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 to break the colour bar in baseball – this is true, but the convention ignores the campaigns form the mid 1930s, and widespread public support to break that exclusion of African American players form big league baseball. Silber's biography of the editor of the sports section of the US Communist Party's daily newspaper – yes the CP paper had a sports section – unpacks the politics of the campaign. Based on published sources and hours of interviews with Lester Rodney this is an insider’s view of the politics of the US and of US sport in the 1930s and 1940s. A real contribution to the field.

[Manray9 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Irwin Silber’s “Press Box Red” is a lively look at the substantial roles played by Lester Rodney and The Daily Worker in the drive to desegregate organized baseball. Silber goes far in exploding the myth that it was Branch Rickey and his Methodist conscience who singlehandedly undid the unwritten ban on African American players. Rickey and the Brooklyn Dodgers were greatly influenced by the widespread public opinion crusade spearheaded by the U. S. Communist Party and the sports page of The Daily Worker. The Daily Worker started the effort in 1936 – eleven years before Rickey brought Jackie Robinson to the Dodgers. Lester Rodney, sports editor of the Communist newspaper, kicked off a concerted campaign of articles, supported by petition drives, letters, and backed by players, managers and fans. The campaign formed public opinion on the subject and refused to allow Jim Crow in baseball to recede from the public consciousness. Rickey, in fact, forced his tame historian of the events surrounding the Robinson signing to delete all references that “Rickey was besieged by telephone calls, telegrams and letters of petition on behalf of black ballplayers.” The Daily Worker’s efforts against Jim Crow resulted in over one million letters and telegrams to Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis opposing the color line.

“Press Box Red” is not only a tribute to Lester Rodney’s many years of hard work, but a reminder that despite their multitude of sins American Communists once stood for social justice and the rights of working people of all races.

Irwin Silber’s book is highly readable. I recommend it for a new perspective on the end of Jim Crow in baseball and as a peek into a neglected chapter of U.S. history.

[Jimmy Tarlau · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone who likes Baseball or saw the movie '42', this is a great read. It is basically the memoirs (I'm not sure why he makes it out to be a biography) of the sports writer for the Daily Worker. It details the ten year campaign to integrate baseball before Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson after World War II. It also covers a progressive look at Professional Boxing and College Basketball. I really enjoyed reading it.

[Brook Zelcer · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than just the story of a crusading sports reporter, Irwin Silber's gem treats the seminal issues of race and class during the turbulent times before Jackie Robinson's integration into professional baseball. Silber's is the kind of sports writing- - and the indefatigable Rodney's the kind sports reporting- - we need today. An education.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so readable. And it's history. Real history. Fascinating piece of Communists in America. Also amazing details about racism in our country, and not just in sports.
A lot more than Joe Louis and Jackie Robinson. Even at that, which one of them first 'broke the color line'?

[Joseph Clore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly an excellent book into the integration of major league baseball. Fortunately, since the Cold War is over, we are able to get objective information on the positive role the American Left, particularly the Communist Party, USA, played in social movements in this country.

[Ken Moraff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling and inspirational story that's also fun to read