The Story of Jackie Robinson

AMieOle BY SPENCER JOHNSON, M.D,

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The Story of Jackie Robinson
 The Story of
Jackie Robinson
BY SPENCER JOHNSON, M.D.
THE DANBURY PRESS

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The Value of Courage is part of the ValueTale series.

The Value of Courage text copyright ®1977 by Spencer
Johnson, M.D. Illustrations copyright ®1977 by Value
Communications, Inc.
All rights reserved under International and Pan American
Copyright Conventions
No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission from the publisher,
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews
and articles.
First Edition
Manufactured in the United States of America
For further information write to: ValueTales, P.O. Box 1012,
La Jolla, CA 92038

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Johnson, Spencer.
The value of courage.
(ValueTales)
SUMMARY: A biography, stressing the courage, of the
first black player in professional baseball.
1. Robinson, John Roosevelt, 1919-1972—Juvenile
literature. 2. Baseball players—United States—
Biography—Juvenile literature. [1. Robinson, John
Roosevelt, 1919-1972. 2. Baseball players. 3. Afro-
Americans—Biography. 4. Courage]
I. Title.
GV865.R6J64 796.357'092'4 [B] 77-8865
ISBN 0-916392-12-0

4
For my wife Ann who has helped me
to understand the value of courage

This tale is about the courageous Jackie

Robinson. The story that follows is based on
events in his life. More historical facts about
Jackie Robinson can be found on page 63.

5
6
a Vtct U/poK tCnve^...
there lived a young boy named Jackie Robinson. Looking at him
you might think he was just an ordinary boy. He walked like
his friends. He talked like his friends. He even dressed like his friends.

But there was one thing about Jackie that made him very
special. Can you guess what it was?

7
 Jackie could run faster, jump higher, and throw a ball
harder than anyone on the block.
''Hey, Jackie! Slow down!" his friends shouted. "We
can't keep up with you!"
Jackie laughed. "This is as slow as I go!" he'd say. Then
he would zip off over walls and around fences, running
as if his shoes were on fire.

8
 w in

But Jackie didn't have much time for play. His family
was poor and Jackie worked to help out. He
delivered newspapers after school. And on
weekends Jackie sold hot dogs at a baseball stadium
near his home in California.

9
Jackie worked hard and sold lots of hot dogs. Of course he
watched the ball games too, when he got the chance. One day
as he watched Jackie noticed something. It was something he
had seen before, but had never really thought about.

He looked at the pitcher and at the catcher. He looked at the

batter and at the first baseman. He looked at the dugouts
where the other players were sitting.
"Idon't understand it," he said to himself. "There aren't
any black players on either team."

"Hey, boy!" a man shouted. "How about one of those hot

dogs?" Jackie jumped, and he hurried back to work.
That evening at supper Jackie asked, '"Mama, how come
blacks don't play on big league baseball teams? Aren't they
good enough players?"

"Oh, they play well enough, Jackie," his mother answered.

"But they aren't allowed to play in the big leagues. Only
white men are allowed to play."
His brother Mack poked Jackie in the ribs, 'They're afraid
our color might rub off on them." Everyone but Jackie
laughed, but at the same time they felt a little sad.

Jackie was angry. "That's not fair!"

His mother said. "No, I don't suppose it is. But you must
control your temper. It's one thing to be brave. It's another
to have courage."

Jackie didn't really know what that meant—at least not yet
anyway. But he knew how he felt.
 1 1 V

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Jackie felt angry. ''If somebody tried to stop me, I'd wrestle him
to the ground!" Then he wrestled his favorite brother Mack to
the floor to show what he meant.
Jackie's temper always got the better of him when it came to
unfairness. But his mother understood. "Someday it might
change," she said, "but not by fighting with your brother. Now
finish your dinner, because I have a surprise for you."
What do you suppose the surprise was?
14
It was a baseball!
Oh, it wasn't the kind of a baseball that you can buy in a store.
It was a ragball. Jackie's mother had made it out of woolen
socks and bits of brightly colored cloth. She had tied it up with
a bit of string and a lot of love.
When Jackie saw that ragball he let out a yell that rattled the
windows. "My own baseball!" he shouted happily. "I'll keep it
as long as I live!"
After that Jackie played with his ragball whenever he wasn't
working or at school. He came to love the ragball so much that
he even talked to it. He threw it high against brick walls. Then
he caught it before it could fall back to the ground. "Gotcha!"
he said. Then he tossed the ball against curbs and grabbed it as
it bounced back to him. Jackie had a lot of fun playing with his
ragball. They were as close as peanut butter and jelly.
Sometimes Jackie made believe he was a big league baseball player.
He used to hit his ragball with a stick and pretend he was hitting a
real baseball with a real bat.

But one day Jackie hit the ragball too hard. It flew up and up and
up into the air.

And what do you think happened then?

 The ragball split apart. Bits and pieces of colored cloth
exploded out of it and scattered everywhere!

18
19
Jackie was heartbroken. "I've killed it!" he wept.

But then he thought he heard a strange little voice.

"Don't cry, Jackie," the voice said. "I'm okay!"

Jackie blinked. Suddenly it seemed to him that his

ragball was back in one piece again—and it was
talking to him!

"My name is Rags," the ball seemed to say. "I'd like

to be your best friend."
Jackie knew that his ragball was really in little bits and pieces
and that it couldn't talk. And of course he knew that your best
friend is yourself. When Jackie thought he was listening to
Rags, he was really listening to his own thoughts.

"Well, Rags," Jackie said, "I can't think of a better friend to have."

With that, Jackie went home—and he pretended that Rags went

along with him.
As Jackie grew up he liked to think that Rags
went everywhere with him. Rags went along
to help him on his jobs. Rags was with him
when he practiced his favorite sports. When he
practiced so much that his whole body ached.
Rags always whispered good things to Jackie.

'"Have courage, Jackie," Rags seemed to say,

"and nothing can stop you. Remember that
having courage is doing things that are hard to
do—even things that you're afraid to do."

JOHK lAUlR
TECH. KSi
"'Do you remember the Pepper Street gang?" asked Rags once.
Jackie remembered well the boys he had known near his home
on Pepper Street.
"Remember how easy it would have been to stay with the
gang," Rags said. "And if you had stayed, you might now be
stealing and lying like some of the others. If you had done what
was easy then you'd probably be in big trouble now."
Jackie nodded. "It was hard to leave the gang," he admitted.
Rags added quickly, "It took courage for you to leave, but I'm
glad you did." Jackie felt good. It was great to be together with Rags.

23
When Jackie was older he went to college at UCLA—the
University of California at Los Angeles—where he became a
star athlete. He was the first person in the history of the school
to win sports awards in basketball, football, baseball, and track,
all in the same year.
"'What a great athlete!" said the fans who watched Jackie play.

One person who always rooted for Jackie was a girl named
Rachel. Jackie really liked Rachel. He liked her so much that he
asked her to be his girlfriend.
 But not everyone cheered for Jackie. Some people tried to bully
him because he was black. They called him a troublemaker
when he got angry and stood up to them.
"Don't you know blacks shouldn't talk back?" sneered one man.
"Don't you know Tm a person, just like you?" replied Jackie
angrily. "I'll say what I want and I'll do what I think is right!"
26 Rachel was proud of Jackie when he spoke up this way.
But Jackie tried not to worry when people said cruel things
to him. He had more serious problems. 'I'm going to have
to quit school," he told Rags one day.
"Quit school?" cried Rags. "You can't! It's too important!"
"I know, but my mother just can't afford to keep me in
school," said Jackie. "I have to get a job."
If you were a terrific athlete like Jackie, what kind of a job
would you get?
That's right! You'd probably get a job in sports.

Jackie began getting paid to play professional

football. He was a very, very good player. But he
didn't stay with the football team long.

Do you know why?

Jackie quit football in order to join the army. Like
most people, Jackie didn't want to go to war. But the
United States had declared war and Jackie wanted to
help his country.

He was a good soldier, but he found a lot of

unfairness even in the army. One day when he
wanted to ride on a bus, he found out how unfair
some people could be. Something happened that
was very common in those days.

Do you have any idea what it was?

After Jackie got on the bus and sat down, the bus driver
yelled at him. "Hey, black man," he said, "get to the
back of the bus where you belong!"

"I will not," said Jackie. "Fll sit up front just like
anybody else." And Jackie stayed in the front of the bus,
not budging from where he had sat. Some of the
passengers didn't like this. They felt that only white
people were good enough to sit up front. They even
tried to get Jackie in trouble. But he had the courage to
do what he knew was right.
"Atta boy, Jackie!" cried Rags. "I'm proud of you!"

Jackie was proud, too. And he was glad when the whole
thing finally turned out all right. But deep down inside,
he was sad. "How can some people be so unfair to other
people?" he whispered to Rags.
 Of course after Jackie finally got out of the army he needed
a job again. And of course the first thing he thought of was sports.

'"Why not try baseball?" said Rags. "They don't allow black
athletes to play in the big leagues, but you could play for
the Negro American League."

Jackie decided to try it. He went to Kansas City and joined

the Monarchs, an all-black baseball team. "If this works
out," he thought, "Rachel and I can get married soon."

32
«»ckicr

After Jackie had been with the Kansas City Monarchs

awhile, people began talking about what a terrific player he
was. Sports writers began turning out stories about the way
he could hit and run, throw and catch.

And, while Jackie was playing for the Monarchs, an

important man who lived faraway was also talking about him.

Who do you think the man was, and what do you think he
was saying?
33
 The man was Branch Rickey. He lived in New York and was president
of the Brooklyn Dodgers, a famous big league baseball team.
'Tots of black people are darn good athletes," Branch Rickey said to a
friend. "It's about time that a black man gets a chance to play baseball
in the major leagues. And from what you tell me, Jackie Robinson is the
best black baseball player there is. I'm going to ask him to play on one
34 of our try-out baseball teams, the one in Montreal."
Branch Rickey knew he'd be criticized for hiring a black player. It took
courage, but he sent for Jackie anyway.

Soon after Jackie arrived at Mr. Rickey's office, he was

asked a difficult question.

"I want to know one thing," he said to Jackie. "Can you

play the game, no matter how ugly and mean some people
are to you? Will you be able to take it without losing your temper?"

"Mr. Rickey," said Jackie, "are you looking for a black man
who's afraid to fight back?"

Branch Rickey shook his head. "No. I'm looking for a ball
player with courage enough not to fight back."
Jackie understood. Some of the white players would try to make him quit.
They'd throw baseballs at him. They'd step on him with spiked shoes.
They'd call him ugly names. They'd do anything to prove that blacks
weren't good enough for big league baseball. Jackie would have to take it.
He would not be able to fight back, because if he did, he could ruin the
chances of other blacks to play big league baseball.
"It will be hard," Mr. Rickey warned, "and it will take a lot of courage."
Jackie nodded. "I'll try, Mr. Rickey," he said. Then he and Branch Rickey
shook hands.
'"Jackie, do you have a special friend?" Branch
Rickey asked.

"1 sure do," said Jackie. "She's a great girl, and her
name is Rachel."

"Good," said Mr. Rickey. "A great girl is hard to

find, and you're going to need all the help you can get."

"We plan to get married as soon as we can," said Jackie.

So Jackie and Rachel were married. Jackie was glad

to have Rachel and her warmth and wisdom with
him when he left for his first game in Montreal.
37
 When Jackie arrived in Montreal Rags was also with him. Rags
was always around when Jackie was nervous or upset.
''What if I don't play well enough?" Jackie asked Rags. "This is
just a try-out team. If I'm not good enough I won't get to New
York and I won't play for the Brooklyn Dodgers."
"You're as good as any player here," said Rags.
"But I've got to be better than any player here," said Jackie.
Rags laughed, "Then be better!"
38
Jackie was better. He hit the ball hard. He caught the ball
practically every time. He even stole a few bases. He
didn't pay any attention when some players on other
teams yelled at him and called him dirty names.

Then one day the players on another team did

something awful!

/
 They threw a black cat out onto the playing field and yelled, '"Hey!
Jackie Robinson! Here's your cousin! He's black too!"

Jackie's stomach tightened up. His fists clenched. He wanted to fight.

"Careful!" whispered Rags. "You know what Mr. Rickey told you. And
remember what your mother said long ago. It's one thing to be brave
and to be willing to fight back. But it's another to have courage to do
what's hard and not fight back."

40
Jackie thought for a minute, then he did the thing that was so difficult
for him. He calmed down and refused to fight.

The other men were mad when they saw that they couldn't make Jackie
lose his temper. They knew if Jackie stayed calm, he would play even
better—against them\

CLASSIC
He did play better. In fact, he played so well that after only one year with
the Montreal team Branch Rickey called him and said, "I want you and
Rachel to come to New York. You're going to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers
Those were the words Jackie had been waiting to hear. He wanted to tell
Rachel the good news right away. But he was a little worried too. "I
wonder what will happen to me in New York?" he said to Rags.
One thing that happened was that Jackie's picture was in many
of the New York newspapers. In those days, even some of the
sportswriters believed that there wasn't a black man in the
country who was good enough for the big leagues. "Jackie
Robinson will fail," said some of the newspaper articles.

Jackie sighed. "How can I play well, when so many people

want me to fail just because I'm black?"

But before he knew it, Jackie was in a Dodger uniform, ready

for his first big league game.
 The first game was about to begin. The Dodgers came onto the
field. Jackie tossed a grounder to Pee Wee Reese, the great
Dodger shortstop. Pee Wee scooped up the ball and flipped it to
Eddie Stanky, the second baseman. Eddie then threw the ball to
Jackie. Jackie felt the ball thump into his mitt. It was a simple
catch, but a trickle of sweat rolled down the back of Jackie's
neck. His heart beat faster, and his hand felt damp inside his
mitt. Jackie knew that his palms were sweating. He was very nervous!

44
Then he heard ugly words. "Hey, black boy!" someone
shouted. "You don't belong here. Get off the field!"

"So you're Jackie Robinson," someone from the other team

yelled. "We'll show you that you can't play in the big leagues."

Jackie's teammates just watched and listened. They didn't try to

defend Jackie, even though he was on their team.

Somehow Jackie managed to ignore the shouts and the insults.

He played all right when the game finally started. And for a few
more games he played very well. But then it happened!
 Jackie's courage began to weaken. He felt the anger of the fans. He
heard their boos and the shouts. He still wanted to do well for Branch
Rickey, for his team, and for other blacks who wanted to get into the
major leagues. And, of course, for himself. But it seemed too hard. Like
everyone else does at times, he was giving up. He began to play badly.
In game after game he failed to hit the ball.
"See!" said one of the players on the other team. "I told you black
people aren't any good at baseball!"
46
During one very bad game, Jackie sat sadly in the
dugout. ''Everybody seems to be against me," he
sighed. "I feel all alone."

"I know you do, Jackie," whispered Rags, "but having

courage means seeing things through. No matter how
hard it is, you've got to keep trying. Besides, you never
know what might happen."
The next game began badly. Some fans shouted at Jackie.
Players on the other team yelled insults. As usual, the men on
Jackie's team did nothing to help Jackie.

But then a very unexpected thing happened. Almost everyone

in the stadium saw it. The great Dodger player. Pee Wee Reese,
walked over, put his arm around Jackie's shoulder, and said,
"We're with you, Jackie." He knew how hard it was for Jackie
to be the only black player in the major leagues.

At last Jackie had found a real teammate.

Now he was more determined than ever to play his best—no
matter how hard it was.
Jackie came to bat. The pitcher threw the ball. An instant later
the stadium echoed to the sound of a loud crack! Jackie had hit
the ball into the outfield for a double!
Jackie played well for the rest of the day—and for many days
after that. Gradually most of the fans and players stopped
booing and insulting him.
There was, however, at least one player who still wanted to
hurt Jackie. And he planned to do it soon.
Without warning, a big player from the other team charged at Jackie like
a wild bull. He cut Jackie with his spiked shoes. Jackie began to bleed.

Without thinking, Jackie Robinson clenched his fists, ready to fight.

"'No," screamed Rags. "That would be too easy."

W
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51
Jackie took a deep breath and relaxed his hands.
Soon he was surrounded by his teammates, who
helped him as he limped off the field.

His teammates knew, and even the fans who read

the newspapers knew, that it was Jackie's nature to
fight back. It must have taken a lot of courage for
Jackie not to hit the other player.
''Jackie's done it," Mr. Rickey told Rachel. "He's shown he's
got courage when it's needed most."

Rachel couldn't know it that day, but Jackie's courage was

going to change big league baseball completely. And Rachel
was going to see the change with her own eyes.

What do you think Rachel saw?

53
As time went by, Rachel saw more and more black athletes on
big league playing fields.
Jackie had done what he had set out to do. His courage had led
the way. Now everyone knew that a good player was a valuable
addition to a team, whether that player was black or white.
Rags was so proud that he hardly knew what to do with himself.
''Jackie/' he said, "you've helped all black athletes, and you've won
just about every major award a baseball player can win!"

Jackie laughed. "I know. But I'm happiest because I helped the
Brooklyn Dodgers win their first championship of the world."

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 Eventually Jackie gave up playing baseball. What do you think he
did next?

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Jackie Robinson became a spokesman for the rights of black
people. He talked to groups of people all over the country.

''It's time everyone treated black people as equals," Jackie said.

"I know that things are getting a little better, but they have to
get much better, and very soon!"
Some people didn't like to hear Jackie reminding them of how
really unfair they were to black people. They didn't want to
think about it, but Jackie made them think about it. He had the
courage to say what was right, no matter what happened. Most
people admired Jackie for his courage.

Rags was happy that Jackie could now speak out for the rights
of black people. Jackie didn't know it yet, but one of the
happiest days for him was yet to come.

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 Several years after he stopped playing, Jackie was given the
highest honor a baseball player can receive. He was voted into
the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Many of the greatest baseball players of all time were there to

show how much they respected Jackie. So were some of our
country's highest leaders. As he listened to them cheering for
him, Jackie's eyes filled with happy tears.

Then Jackie heard a small voice whispering to him. "No one

deserves this honor more than you," said Rags. "You earned it
because of your great courage."

11 1 ET 1
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And what about you? Is there something that's very hard for
you to do? Maybe it's even something you're afraid of. Well, are
you going to have the courage to do it?

You may not become one of the greatest baseball players of all
time, but you can do something just as important.
You can learn the value of courage by doing what is hard
for you to do. Then you can be happier too, just like our
courageous friend Jackie Robinson.
 John Roosevelt (Jackie) Robinson was born in
Cairo, Georgia in 1919, the youngest of five
children. His sharecropper father abandoned
the family six months after Jackie was born.
Despite a lack of money, Jackie's mother was
determined to find a better life for her children
and moved her family to California when Jackie
was only sixteen months old.
Jackie and his brothers Edgar, Frank, and
Mack, and his sister Willa Mae, grew up on \
Pepper Street in Pasadena, California. Their
mother Mallie supported her family by working
at various domestic jobs. Jackie remembered his
mother with pride: "I thought she must have
some kind of magic to be able to do all the
things she did, to work so hard and never
complain and to make us all feel happy."
At one point in his youth, Jackie began to run JACKIE ROBINSON
1919-1972
with a neighborhood gang. An older friend
made Jackie realize how much he was hurting
his mother as well as himself. As Jackie later In 1947 Rickey moved Jackie to the Dodgers.
said, "He told me that it didn't take guts to Despite the tremendous pressure of being the
follow the crowd, that courage and intelligence first black baseball player in the major leagues,
lay in being willing to be different." Jackie Jackie played outstanding baseball and was
listened and left the gang. voted rookie of the year. His best year was 1949
As he grew up, Jackie developed into a when he led the league in hitting and was
sensational athlete. He starred in football, voted its most valuable player. Jackie played for
basketball, baseball, and track. He attended the Dodgers for ten years during which they
UCLA where he became the first person ever to won the National League title six times. In 1955
win athletic awards (letters) in all four sports.' it was Jackie's spectacular play that led to the
Jackie left UCLA in 1941 and began playing Dodgers' first World Series Championship. He
professional football with the Los Angeles retired from baseball after the 1956 season.
Bulldogs. World War II cut short his football Jackie, even as a young person, was an
career. He served in the army for thirty-one outspoken black man. He was in many ways
months and was discharged as a first ahead of his times. Many people did not like his
lieutenant. comments on racial injustice. However, he had
He made his professional baseball debut in the courage to speak his mind in public on what
1945 with the Monarchs of the Negro American he believed to be the rights of blacks.
Baseball League. His abilities as a player Jackie shared the pains and joys of his life
brought him to the attention of Branch Rickey, with his wife Rachel, whom he married in 1946.
president of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball Rachel was a source of considerable strength
team. Rickey, in what was an act of great for him.
courage at the time, had decided to break the In later life Jackie Robinson suffered quietly
color barrier which then existed in major league from the pains of diabetes. He died from
baseball. Jackie was signed to play for the diabetic complications in 1972. But even now
Dodgers' top minor league team, the Montreal his life story continues to act as an outstanding
Royals, for the 1946 season. example of the value of courage.

63
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THE VALUE OF PATIENCE The Story of the Wright Brothers

THE VALUE OF KIN DNESS The Story of Elizabeth Fry

THE VALUE OF HUMOR The Story of Will Rogers

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THE VALUE OF CARING The Story of Eleanor Roosevelt

THE VALUE OF CURIOSITY The Story of Christopher Columbus

THE VALUE OF RESPECT The Story of Abraham Lincoln

THE VALUE OF IMAGINATION The Story of Charles Dickens

THE VALUE OF FAIRNESS The Story of Nellie Bly

THE VALUE OF SAVING The Story of Benjamin Franklin

THE VALUE OF LEARNING The Story of Marie Curie

THE VALUE OF SHARING The Story of the Mayo Brothers

THE VALUE OF RESPONSIBILITY The Story of Ralph Bunche

THE VALUE OF HONESTY The Story of Confucius

THE VALUE OF GIVING The Story of Ludwig van Beethoven

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THE VALUE OF FANTASY The Story of Hans Christian Andersen
THE VALUE OF FORESIGHT The Story of Thomas Jefferson
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THE VALUE OF DEDICATION TheStory of Albert Schweitzer
THE VALUE OF FRIENDSHIP TheStory of Jane Addams
THE VALUE OF ADVENTURE The Story of Sacagawea
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