Beyond The Point Of No Return

From the moment of Robinson's signing, rumors had spread that at least one other black player would be put on the Montreal roster to provide Robinson with a roommate and companion. That man turned out to be the little-known Wright, 27. Scouts described him as a "willowy righthanded pitcher," as having good control, a live fastball, and a wide variety of curves, knucklers and sinkers. He'd pitched for the New Orleans Zulus, a novelty team in his hometown, as well as for the Newark Eagles, Toledo Craw-fords and Homestead Grays of the Negro leagues. In 1943 he was 25-4 for the Grays. In 1944 Wright had joined the Navy and, like many other players, fought his military battles on baseball diamonds. Pitching for a Great Lakes Naval Station team, Wright had a 15-4 record, including a no-hitter and one of the lowest earned run averages in the armed forces.

"Wright doesn't boast the college background that is Jackie's," wrote Lacy, "but he possesses something equally valuable—a level head and the knack of seeing things objectively. He is a realist in a role which demands divorce from sentimentality." Wright put it another way: "I'm a Southerner. I've always lived in the South, so I know what's coming. I've been black for 27 years, and I will remain like that for a long time."

It's unclear where Wright fit into Rickey's grand scheme. "I don't think that the reports indicated that Johnny Wright was an outstanding pitcher," says Sukeforth, "but apparently Mister Rickey thought he would be an excellent companion." Yet Wright possessed considerable talent. Several major-leaguers who had played against both rated Wright a better prospect than Robinson.

With Robinson batting .349, to lead the league, and stealing 40 bases, the Montreal Royals won the 1946 International League pennant by 18½ games. In the league playoffs they defeated the Newark Bears and the Syracuse Chiefs. The Little World Series, which pitted the International League titles against their American Association counterparts for the championship of the minors, remained the team's only test. And so the Royals headed south to play the Louisville Colonels.

Jim Crow adopted a hybrid form in Louisville. Schools were segregated, but streetcars weren't. Blacks and whites went to separate theaters but shopped in the same stores. At Parkway Field, where the Colonels played, segregation existed both on and off the baseball diamond. Blacks could pay admission and watch the proceedings from a small Jim Crow section down the rightfield line, but until now only whites played the game.

As the likelihood of a Louisville-Montreal series grew apparent, many people rooting for Robinson's success expressed concern that he might be barred from playing in the Southern city. Bruce Dudley, the president of the Colonels, had opposed the Robinson signing the previous year, but he quickly squelched rumors that Robinson would not be allowed to participate. As long as Organized Baseball accepted Robinson, reasoned Dudley, he could appear in the Louisville stadium.

Each time Robinson came to the plate during the three games at Louisville a chorus of boos rained down on him from the almost all-white crowd. "He took it most gracefully and conducted himself in his every move as a gentleman," wrote Tommy Fitzgerald, a sympathetic Louisville sportswriter. The tension of the series, however, affected Robinson's play. In three games in Louisville he had only one hit, though he did turn in several stunning fielding plays. Deprived of Robinson's demoralizing speed on the bases, the Royals lost two of those three.

"You haven't seen the real Robinson yet," Royals Shortstop Al Campanis warned the Colonels as the teams departed Louisville. "He's much better than he showed here. Wait until you see him in Montreal." On October 1 in Montreal a light snow had fallen. Delormier Downs, the Royals' home field, was lined for football as well as baseball. Despite the cold weather, a large crowd appeared to wreak vengeance on the Louisville players for Robinson's treatment in Kentucky. As each Colonel approached the plate, the fans roundly jeered him.

In the opener in Montreal, it appeared that the Colonels would easily get their third victory of the series. At the end of 4½ innings they led 4-0, and going into the bottom of the ninth they were still ahead, 5-3. A wild streak by their pitchers, however, allowed Montreal to even the score, with Robinson scoring the tying run. In the bottom of the 10th an error, a fielder's choice and a sacrifice placed Royal runners on second and third. A failed squeeze then left men on first and third. The Colonels elected to walk Marv Rackley intentionally to load the bases and pitch to Robinson. Then, as Fitzgerald wrote it, "On this frigid, football-striped baseball diamond tonight, Jackie Robinson, former...halfback at Southern California [sic] intercepted one of Mel Deutsch's pitches from the 15-yard line to give Montreal a 6-5 victory over Louisville."

The Montreal Gazette called Robinson's game winning single "revenge," but his retribution had just begun. The next night the "dark destroyer," as he was called in Montreal, slashed a double in the first inning and scored the first Royal run. With the score tied 3-3 in the seventh, he led off the inning with a booming triple and then scored on a double. In the eighth inning, with the bases loaded and two out, Robinson surprised everyone with a squeeze bunt, which scored Campanis from third with the final run in the Royals' 5-3 victory. "Quicker than you can say Jack Robinson, the Colonels have changed from favorites to underdogs in the Little World Series," wrote Fitzgerald.