What I Learned from Jackie Robinson: A Teammate's Reflections on and Off the Field

Focused, determined and devoted to his ideals, Jackie Robinson impressed teammates and opponents alike. Now, one of those admirers, ex-Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Erskine, has penned a memoir describing some of the lessons he learned from his trailblazing former teammate. Erskine and Robinson, integral parts of the last and greatest era of Brooklyn baseball, were fast friends. Robinson taught ""Oisk"" a lot about competition, dignity and the terrible costs of discrimination. Unfortunately, while Erskine's book is a pleasant enough read, it offers little that's new. Part of the problem is that Erskine joined the Dodgers in 1948, more than year after Robinson broke baseball's color line. As a result, Erskine can do little more than repeat secondhand some of the well-worn anecdotes about Robinson and the courage he displayed during his rookie season. Even when detailing incidents he witnessed, Erskine treads old ground. Only in the last third of the book-in which he describes his own bittersweet return to Brooklyn with his family in 2000, Robinson's determination to continue his crusades despite failing health and Robinson's regrets about his troubled son-does the book acquire gravity. In a sense, the title is misleading; Erskine's genuine admiration for Robinson permeates the book, but this volume is very much about the Dodgers, the team's David-and-Goliath struggle with the mighty Yankees and their wrenching departure for Los Angeles after the 1957 season. Other books have covered this territory more revealingly and poignantly, especially the classic Boys of Summer. Still, just as we might enjoy listening to a grandparent tell the same old stories, it's nice to hear Erskine talk about the old days one more time.