Stevens Memorial Library (North Andover)

A calculus of color, the integration of baseball's American League, Robert Kuhn McGregor

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

A calculus of color

bibliography

883647488

Robert Kuhn McGregor

the integration of baseball's American League

In 1947, as the integration of Major League baseball began, the once-daring American League had grown reactionary, unwilling to confront postwar challenges. As the political climate changed and some major league teams realized the necessity of integration, the American League proved painfully reluctant. With the exception of the Cleveland Indians, integration was slow and often ineffective. This book examines the integration of baseball, widely viewed as a triumph, through the experiences of the American League, and finds only a limited shift in racial values. The teams accepted few black players and made no effort to alter management structures, and organized baseball remained an institution governed by tradition-bound owners

Introduction : The costs of racism -- The Negro leagues : baseball by and for black people -- The American League : the trials of a major league -- The masks of separation : why integration was unlikely to happen -- A more honest face : how integration happened -- The American League tries : the pioneer experiments -- Interlude. The end of the road : the Negro leagues wither -- Reluctant realists : a change gathers momentum -- Ungracious surrender : the ongoing resistance of the final two -- Looking back-and looking ahead