Jackie and Campy: The Untold Story of Their Rocky Relationship and the Breaking of Baseball’s Color Line

Rather than rehashing the titanic myths of two African-American baseball pioneers, Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella, Kashatus, a sportswriter (September Swoon), delves into the internal landscape of these men instead of the incredible achievements on the field. The courageous exploits of Robinson for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field, according to the author, inspired Martin Luther. King Jr.’s civil rights campaign as well as the 1954 Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education. In a bold, assured narrative, Kashatus measures the pacesetters: “Where Robinson was overtly aggressive and intense, Campanella was more passive and easygoing.” While Robinson’s militancy and outspokenness aggravated some players, pundits, and owners, Campy’s optimism and good-will made him very likable as he became a seven-time All-Star catcher, winning five pennants. If Robinson, who was the 1947 Rookie of the Year and played on seven pennant-winning Dodger clubs, supported the civil rights protests, Campy felt the violence would stop if blacks “stopped pressing too far too fast,” and that conflict between the men led to a public spat resulting in a parting of the ways for nearly 10 years. Using their racial and social attitudes as a springboard, Kashatus has written a superb narrative of sports, race, and politics in the 1950s and ’60s, and also tells of the bittersweet consequences in Jackie and Campy’s lives—Robinson’s death at 53 and Campanella’s paralysis. (Apr.)