Strength for the Fight: The life and Faith of Jackie Robinson (Gary Scott Smith) -- A Review
STRENGTH FOR THE FIGHT: The Life and Faith of Jackie Robinson. (Library of Religious Biography). By Gary Scott Smith. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2022. Xiii + 298 pages.
Prior to the 1947 season, Major
League Baseball was a whites-only affair. There wasn't anything in the by-laws
of the leagues, but it was a "gentleman's agreement" that no team
would sign black players (this ban included all possible players with darker
skin). While the major leagues and even the minor leagues offered a
white-washed product, many capable Black players could have played alongside Ty
Cobb and Babe Ruth long before Robinson broke through the color barrier, but these
players were consigned to play in the alternative Negro Leagues. Those leagues
produced some excellent players, players who if they had been in the American
or National Leagues, would have been numbered among the best that played the
game, but they remained largely unknown to the larger population. Think of
players like Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. Paige did get to play in the
Majors, but long after his heyday, Gibson was no longer playing (and he would
die in 1947). That ban finally fell in 1947 because Branch Rickey, then the President
of the Brooklyn Dodgers decided it was time to cross the invisible line and
integrate America’s so-called pastime. The question was, who should he turn to make
this happen? It would take a special person to take on the challenge because
resistance and opposition likely would be fierce and possibly even violent.
As the world, especially the United
States entered the postwar era, things were changing. Harry Truman had
integrated the military after the war, and change was in the air elsewhere. So,
enter Jackie Robinson. Robinson had served in the army during World War II,
becoming an officer. Before the war, he had attended Pasadena Junior College
and UCLA, where he had been a sports star. Besides baseball, he was an
accomplished football and basketball player, as well as a track star (long
jump). Here was a military officer, someone who attended college, and was
proficient as an athlete. These were prime qualities for someone who might be
chosen to pave the way for others to enter a sport previously off-limits to
people of color (at least in terms of the Major Leagues). Robinson had one
other quality that made him attractive to the very religious Branch Rickey.
That was the fact he was a person of faith. He was a Methodist, just like
Branch Rickey. Yes, he was the perfect person to take up this calling. It's
been seventy-five years since Robinson broke the color barrier. While baseball
might not be as popular today as it was in the 1940s, it remains symbolic of
American life. So it’s fitting that his story is told once again for current
and future generations.
Jackie Robinson's story has been
told many times before. In fact, I read and reviewed an earlier book that
explored Robinson’s faith and his decision to take up Rickey’s call to be the
first Black Major Leaguer. That book is Michael Long and Chris Lamb’s Jackie Robinson: A Spiritual Biography: The Faith of a Boundary-Breaking Hero by
Michael Long and Chris Lamb. I thoroughly enjoyed that book, which covered much
of the same ground as Strength for the Fight: The Life and Faith of Jackie Robinson. This volume is the latest contribution to the prestigious
Eerdmans Library of Religious Biography. Both biographies emphasize
Robinson's faith as well as his baseball exploits, and both are worth reading.
Thus, we are blessed to have such excellent reflections on the connection of
faith to important moments in history.
The author of Strength for the Fight: The Life and Faith of Jackie
Robinson is Gary Scott Smith. He is professor of history emeritus at
Grove City College. He is the author of eighteen books and in 2001 he was named
the Pennsylvania Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching. Among his other books is a biography of Winston Churchill
and a book exploring Religion in the Oval Office. I was impressed, as I
read the book, at Smith’s evenhandedness in telling this important story. In
other words, he didn’t make Robinson out to be a saint nor did he diminish the
accomplishment.
Throughout this biography, Smith
highlights Robinson's role as a trailblazer and the challenges he faced before,
during, and after his history-changing decision to become the first black to
play in the major leagues since the late 19th century. While Smith highlights
the many ways in which Robinson broke new ground for others, he also seeks to
address the myth/legend surrounding Robinson. By doing this, Robinson can be
seen as the person he was in life—a brave human being who blazed the trail for
others, with his faith providing the anchor. While Robinson was the first to
cross this line, others quickly followed after him even if it came slowly.
Before the 1947 season was half over, Larry Doby joined the Cleveland Indians and
integrated the American League. Others quickly followed in their footsteps. One
thing that Smith wants us to know is that not only did Robinson integrate
baseball, changing baseball forever, but his willingness to do this proved to
be a giant step for the civil rights movement in the United States. Because of
his demeanor and professionalism, together with his athletic prowess, he made
it possible for others to follow in his footsteps. That opened other doors in
society. That he was chosen to be the first to cross the line was because he
possessed the qualities necessary to make this happen. In other words, he was
willing to persevere so that others might follow. It was his faith that gave
him the strength to do this. When he struggled with this call, something that
happened regularly, Rickey reminded him of his faith and the path Jesus took
before him.
One of the myths surrounding
Robinson suggests that he was not affected by the abuse and threats that he
faced, especially in those early months. The same is true of the fact that in
many cities he couldn’t stay with the team. He tried not to let on that he
thought about giving up on regular basis. He was, after all, a very proud man
who struggled with Rickey's requirement that he not fight back. You can
understand why that was true. When he thought about giving up or giving in, Rickey
would draw upon their common faith, something that linked the two men, to
encourage him to go the distance and not give up.
It's dumbfounding to read about the
horrific treatment directed at him. Not only did he face hostile crowds who
didn’t believe he should be there, but he had to deal with opposing managers
and players who tried to run him off the field. The opponents would heckle him
from the dugout, pitchers threw at his head, and baserunners tried to spike
him. Reading this may shock some people, perhaps the way the Roots mini-series
did for many of us in the 1970s. This book comes out not only as the
seventy-fifth anniversary of this historic moment but at a time in American
history when many whites have begun resisting the narrative that highlights the
roadblocks faced down through the years by people of color. So, for some
readers, this book will prove challenging. That’s because the picture painted
here of American culture in the not-too-distant past is not pretty. It’s not
just the baseball field where Robinson faced resistance. We see this in his
experiences in the Army as well. Nevertheless, as we read the book, we see
Robinson drawing on a very deep faith. Thus, he persevered as he navigated this
moment in history.
When it comes to the Christian
faith, it should be noted that Robinson was not an evangelical. Rather, he was
a progressive Mainline Protestant. Although he originally was a Methodist, he
ended up in the United Church of Christ. While it was his prowess on the field
that allowed him to play baseball, he used that platform to further the cause
of civil rights. He took advantage of opportunities to speak and write columns
for both black and white-owned papers. He was friends with Martin Luther King,
Jr. and Jesse Jackson and supported their work. He was also a friend and
supporter of the liberal Republican governor of New York, Nelson Rockefeller.
While he supported King’s work, he differed with him on the Vietnam War, at
least until the early 1970s. That had a lot to do with the influence of
Rickey’s anti-communism on him. Thus, Smith not only covers baseball and faith
but also Robinson’s involvement in American politics.
As we ponder Jackie's role in all
of this, Smith also highlights the important role played by his wife Rachel
Robinson. She was an accomplished person in her own right, pursuing a career as
a nurse and later as a psychiatric nurse. She walked with him during his most
challenging moments and proved to be a person of courage and determination. After
his death, she founded several institutions to carry on his legacy. We’re
fortunate that Smith highlights and celebrates her life story, even as he
focuses on the life of her husband. In many ways, she was one of the keys to
his ability to survive and navigate trying times.
While baseball may not be as
important to American life as it was at the midpoint of the twentieth century,
the legacy of Jackie Robinson lives on. He paved the way for people like Willie
Mays, Hank Aaron, and many more. Baseball and the nation are better for what he
undertook, proving Branch Rickey right. To know that faith was central to all
of this is important to note. Thus, we can be thankful that Gary Scott Smith
took up the task by writing his biography of Robinson, the very excellent Strength for the Fight. The book comes, as I noted above, at the right moment, at a
moment that many in the United States have forgotten how difficult it has been,
and in many ways still is, for people of color to navigate a nation that has
been defined by people of European descent. Thus, this is an important read not
only for sports fans or those interested in the relationship between faith and
sports but because it speaks to the centrality of civil rights to Robinson’s
legacy.
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