Stevie Meets Jackie Robinson

Growing up in St. Louis, naturally I rooted for the Cardinals.  When Jackie Robinson

 made his major league debut in 1947, I was nine  and really did not comprehend

 racism or even anti-Semitism, which could affect me more directly. Perhaps my father

 commented on the situation, but somehow I felt unsettled to hear the swirling rumors that

 the Cardinals would refuse to take the field when Jackie and the Dodgers came to St.

 Louis.

 I still have a vivid memory of the first time I saw Jackie play ball in old Sportsman’s

 Park; he reached first base, and every eye in the ball park was on Jackie as he danced and feinted toward second.  The  most important eyes on Jackie were those of the Cardinal pitcher who repeatedly threw to first to hold him close, then, distracted, gave up a home run. From that day on, I was a Jackie Robinson fan; he was electrifying!  In 1950, Jackie signed my scorecard after a game; he had beautiful penmanship.

 Fifty years later, Sunday night, March 5, 2000, to be exact, our son, Bill, called to tell

 me he took his little boy to their nearby Penn-Wynne Library in suburban Philadelphia.

 Somehow, little Stevie, three years old, brought over a book about Jackie Robinson;

 Stevie wanted to know his name, and asked questions about him.  Bill knew I would love

 this story, then Bill asked me, as is his way, “What did Jackie hit in 1947?”

 Several days later, Bill bought Stevie an “action figure” (back in my day, we called

 them dolls) of an African-American baseball player, and Stevie named him Jackie

 Robinson.

 Four years later, Stevie was seven, and he and his daddy were looking over books at

 Borders Bookstore.  By chance, Stevie stumbled onto a child’s book about Jackie.  Bill

 told me Stevie read the 150 page book in two days.  Stevie was especially interested to

 learn that Jackie served in World War Two, and asked me on the phone if Jackie had

 known Albert Boxerman.  Stevie had heard the story, many times, of my cousin Albert

 who was killed in combat on Armistice Day, November 11, 1944, while fighting the

 Nazis in France. I told Stevie I did not think they had met; there were over ten million

 American soldiers fighting World War II, but Stevie insisted, “I’m sure Jackie and Albert

 were friends.”