Branch Rickey, Jackie Robinson, and My Dad

Yours truly was 9 years old, going on 10 when Branch Rickey’s stock with my father went through the roof.

Spring 1947 Branch Rickey, owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers signed Jackie Roosevelt Robinson to a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers.   Daddy was overjoyed; calm and thoughtful, but thrilled.

It was happening.  My father’s upbeat perception of the future for black people in America was coming true.  Branch Rickey brought integration to Major League Baseball.  Things were changing just as my dad said they would.

Daddy, a prolific reader, thinker, and commentator to his family, if to no one else, couldn’t exalt Mr. Rickey’s humanity enough.  

And if I had any lingering doubts, I now accepted the premise my brothers, John Wesley Woods III (Johnny) and James Franklin Woods (Jim) could be the professional baseball players daddy had said would be possible.

 I remember growing up black in America in the 40’s and 50’s dreaming of a good future, or melancholy because it would be tough since I was black.  Success could easily be mine if I had talent.  But I didn’t.   So thank heaven I loved school.  College was always my father’s plan for me.  My academic credentials could open the doors to a prosperous happy future. 

I remember Branch Richey’s bold, aggressive approach, putting Jackie Robinson on his baseball team, as the first of the doors opening to improve opportunities for black Americans.  Every boy did have a chance.

 In the tight grip of struggling with America’s widely accepted discriminatory practices and laws that supported injustice based upon the color of ones skin, thank God this black child was blessed with intelligent, optimistic parents.  I would be qualified to become whatever I chose to be.  And I was. 

This book first belonged to Johnny.  Jim inherited it from him.  I received it when my twin brother died.  

                                            My brothers loved baseball their entire lives. 
                                      After school days, the game was not a career option.