This infamous meeting between Jackie Robinson and Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey was like no other job interview. Jackie Robinson had responded to Rickey's invitation thinking he would be asked to play in the all African American U.S. League that Rickey said he was starting. However, when Robinson arrived he found that the USL was just a scheme to hide Rickey's real intention, which was to break baseball's color barrier.
In rapid succession, Rickey fired questions at Jackie Robinson: What would he do if a waiter refused to serve him with his white teamates? What if he were refused a room at a hotel? What if a pitcher threw at his head? "Mr. Rickey," answered the even tempered star, "they've been throwing at my head for a long time." Puzzled by the continuing barrage of questions, Jackie Robinson finally asked Branch Rickey if he wanted a player who was afraid to fight back. "I want a player with guts enough NOT to fight back," explained Rickey, adding that this experiment would work only if Robinson waged his war with a bat and a glove.
"Now it's the World Series," Rickey continued. "I go into you spikes first, but you don't give ground....all I see is your black face....I haul off and punch you in the cheek. What do you do?"
"Mr. Rickey, I've got two cheeks," said Robinson. Two months later, he was playing with Brooklyn's top farm club. Two years after that, he was a member of the pennant winning Brooklyn Dodgers.
Branch Rickey was right about the hatred Jackie Robinson would face. In his first season with the Brooklyn dodgers he was abused by opposing players, unruly fans and his own teammates. A proud and combative man, Robinson wanted to strike back. But remembering his pact with Rickey, he did so on the diamond, terrorizing opponents while blazing a path for the wave of African Americans that would soon follow.
Did You Know?
When Jackie Robinson first came to the Dodgers, entire teams would shout racial slurs at him when he was warming up before games. One writer described him as the loneliest man in sports. The turning point came before a game with Cincinnati. Shortstop Pee Wee Reese, a respected baseball player and a southerner, walked across the diamond and put his arm around Robinson in a show of support.
