Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Jackie Robinson speaks (to Satchel Paige!)

“I remember the great stories that they told about Satchel Paige. Used to walk three men just to get at Josh Gibson, to challenge the greatest hitter, I think, that baseball has produced.”

Here’s one for the baseball fans.

I recently learned that Jackie Robinson, who became an enduring culture hero by breaking Major League Baseball’s color line, hosted a syndicated radio show after his ballplaying days. It was called “Jackie Robinson’s Sport Shots.”

For 3 minutes at a time, Robinson interviewed not only athletes but entertainers such as Johnny Mathis and Frankie Laine.

Most intriguing to me was a conversation with Satchel Paige, one of the greatest pitchers of all time. Robinson had been Paige’s teammate on the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues.

Click here to listen to this 1960 chat between two legends of American sport.

And if you’re really into this sort of cultural artifact, you can own a bunch of “Jackie Robinson’s Sport Shots” on mp3. They’ve got ’em for sale at The Authentic History Center.

5 comments:

michael a. gonzales said...

long time, no see
just dropping by to say
hi...

Undercover Black Man said...

Hey Michael. Thanks for reaching out... I'm glad you found me.

Also glad you're joining Black Nerd Nation. I hope you get half as addicted to blogging as I am. The world would be a better place for it.

Between the two of us, we could turn on at least a few folks to Bourelly.

Unknown said...

Fabulous was a good word for Jackie.

As far as today's "baseball" interviews...I'd like to see your thoughts on Gary Sheffield.

Seems like he confused a lot of people.

ortho said...

Hi UBM! Thanks for posting the clip!

Undercover Black Man said...

What's up, Ortho? Thanks for the comment.

Hey CJB, welcome to my spot, if I haven't welcomed you already.

As for Sheffield, he was just poppin' shit and I didn't pay it any mind. If he wants to know why there are so many Latinos in MLB and dwindling numbers of American-born Negroes, he better recognize that in places like Venezuela, baseball is pursued with love and passion and intensity by kids. Same is not true in your average black city. No big mystery.