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January 10, 2022
Journalist Kennedy (Lasting Impact), a former Sports Illustrated editor, takes an idiosyncratic and heartfelt look at the enduring legacy of sports pioneer Jackie Robinson through four seminal chapters of his life. Beginning with the spring of 1946, Kennedy reports on Robinson’s time in the minor leagues as a member of the Montreal Royals. There, the field became a stage for Robinson’s athletic gifts—including his uniquely rigid batting stance, which, Kennedy writes, “may have been the most notable and influential of them all.” After joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 as the first Black man to play in Major League Baseball, Robinson delivered on the promise of his rookie year by being named the league’s MVP in the summer of 1949. The fall of 1956 saw Robinson’s career end on a down note: he struck out in his final at-bat for the Dodgers, ending the World Series against the Yankees. With the winter of 1972 came the retirement of Robinson’s number, 42, and his death from a heart attack. Lyrical throughout, Kennedy’s narrative radiates with reverence and ends on a resonant note with his description of Robinson’s funeral procession in Harlem: “ gathered thick along the sidewalks.... There was a time in many of lives when Jackie Robinson carried the brightest light of hope.” Baseball fans shouldn’t miss this.

February 1, 2022
An appreciative biography of Jackie Robinson (1919-1972) and his role in the integration of Major League Baseball. When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962, notes Kennedy, editorial director at Meredith and a former Sports Illustrated senior writer, Robinson "asked that his plaque make no mention of his role in integrating baseball." The diffidence is curious, since Robinson famously faced court-martial while serving in the Army for refusing to vacate a bus seat reserved for Whites--10 years before Rosa Parks--and had been an active supporter of and fundraiser for the civil rights movement. Indeed, as the author shows, Robinson was a first in many ways--especially as the first Black player to work in MLB in the 20th century, by the design of executive Branch Rickey, who believed that the time had come for the sport to show the rest of American society the way to treat all citizens equally. Regrettably, as Kennedy writes, the lessons were hard-won. Robinson may have been an equal on the field, but when the Brooklyn Dodgers traveled, Robinson often dined alone in his hotel room, discouraged or forbidden from entering Whites-only dining areas. Even in the supposed racial haven of Canada, where Robinson played while being groomed in the minor leagues, he encountered the "clear marginalization of Black Montrealers, the small-in-numbers populace who lived for the most part in particular areas of town, who stayed only in particular hotels or rooming houses, who found jobs in labor and service." Robinson didn't go out of his way to make waves, nor did his friend and fellow Black player Roy Campanella, who insisted, "I'm no crusader." Yet, in his quiet determination, Robinson opened numerous doors. There's not much new in Kennedy's life of Robinson, but it's always good to be reminded of his greatness and significance in any big-picture view of modern America. A sturdy combination of sportswriting and social history.

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Starred review from March 1, 2022

American baseball has seen some truly legendary players. While they all left their mark on the sport, few had the impact that Jackie Robinson did on the game and on society. Robinson's impact transcended baseball because he broke the color barrier in 1947. Even now, 75 years after his first at bat, Robinson's importance cannot be overstated. In this latest work, Kennedy (56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports) has written an unconventional biography of the baseball legend. The author writes about the four most important years of Robinson's life, spanning the time from Branch Rickey's signing him to the Brooklyn Dodgers to the athlete's final years as a second baseman--all while Robinson endured racism from fellow athletes, opposing teams, and baseball fans. Kennedy notes that Robinson was not only an incredible baseball player but also an outstanding person who endured much throughout his life and career and paved the way for so many athletes today. The inclusion of occasional photographs and illustrations is a bonus. VERDICT A fantastic, well-written biography; fans of baseball and of Robinson's career (on or off the field) must read this captivating book.--Gus Palas

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