The Significance Of Jackie Robinson In Arthur Daley's Play Ball !

The New York Times covered Jackie Robinson's debut as something historical, however, it was not something covered with so much enthusiasm, but, that was probably in part due to the Times effort in being impartial. In their piece, titled “Play Ball!,” written by Arthur Daley, he did acknowledge the historical significance, but, how he believed the organization made it a secret of Robinson’s signing. In the article, he writes on how it seemed that the Dodgers organization brought in Robinson as if it were a secret or in his words "practically smuggled him in." According to the article, Branch Rickey, owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the time, signed Robinson quietly in hopes of keeping the pressure off Robinson. He was no ordinary rookie and

The article is titled “In the Wake of the News” written by Arch Ward. It explains how it is a good time to be a sports fan right now, attendance is going up, there is money in sports and new records are being broken. With also the addition of Jackie Robinson, it is surely going to make baseball an interesting sport to watch that year. However, he did note Robinson’s presence was going to be full of controversy and that reactions from the public were going to be mixed. In the article, it states, “His rise to the big-league status brings into the open one of the most controversial topics in the game … Every move he makes will be watched thru a microscope… Thousands hope he will fail to make good…Many more thousands are pulling for him to stay…The young man is in a tough spot.” Ward goes on to say how he is optimistic for the Dodger’s first baseman and does expect him to carry that big load that is being put on him, but, he will probably have to outperform white players to hold his job because fans will be net picking every little thing that Robinson does. Like other writers, Ward was pulling for Robinson and he certainly let his readers know that. Nonetheless, Ward expected 1947 to be a thrilling year to watch sports and Jackie Robinson was going to be in the center of that spectacle. This style of writing gave their readers something to look forward to for the season

The paper was thrilled to have an African American take a historical step in breaking the color barrier in baseball and it hit close to home for their readers. The Defender was a weekly paper and published their first piece on Robinson’s debut four days after his first game. On their front page they have three photo essays of their beloved Jackie Robinson. For their headline, it wass titled, “Jackie Robinson Opens The Door...... Makes History.” Their word choice throughout the issue shows how favorable they were to Robinson. For example, on page 18 of that same issue they headlined their story of Jackie, “Robinson Plays Flawless With Brooklyn Dodgers Club.” A week later after that issue, the paper really did take it up a notch on the significance Robinson’s debut had on society. In an article titled “Professional Baseball,” it states, “… Brooklyn Dodgers, in inducting him into their line-up, have opened a door that was hitherto closed to the black man. And in so doing, they are bringing a new era of social justice into a game that is so much a part of American culture and tradition.” However, with that being said the author asked the readers to not bring the race problem into the field because the owners are doing their efforts to end racial segregation, he asks the readers not to boo when Robinson strikes out, to not dedicate a day for him just yet, to