By Romare Onishi
Just in its name, the Cleveland Indians don’t sound like a team that helped pave the way to racially integrated baseball. However, in the book Our Team, Luke Epplin tells the story of how Cleveland became the first team in the American League to field a black player. I found this quite ironic because the second team in professional baseball to integrate also had a racist name and logo. Before reading this book, I did not really know much about Larry Doby and Satchel Paige, two African-American baseball players, nor did I know the story of how they came to be on the same team. I thought that Epplin told the story well; he gave the readers context and started telling the story with people like Bob Feller and Bill Veeck, a star pitcher and the owner of the Cleveland team, both of whom would become very important as the story went on.
Epplin’s craft throughout the story made for a very interesting read. By intertwining the four different stories of Bill Veeck, Bob Feller, Larry Doby, and Satchel Paige, he showed a spectrum of people, from an American boy, to an all star African-American pitcher who experienced racism in America. This is interesting because instead of just focusing on only the white players, or only the black players that made the 1948 World Series possible, Epplin focused on both, making for a unique and complete account of what happened.
It was news to me that Cleveland was the first team to integrate because I had never thought past the Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson. I was initially surprised that that was the case because the team has been using the same racist name and logo for a long time now. (Although that has just changed, but that’s another story.) The book also explained that during the war and before he purchased the team, Bill Veeck had been trying to buy a team to fill the empty spots on the roster because of the war draft, with players from the Negro Leagues. However, the owners and MLB caught wind of it, and the team was sold to someone else to prevent Veeck from integrating baseball. I thought that this demonstrated Veeck was ready and open to integrating baseball. Another example of this can be shown through Veeck’s reassurance and support of Larry Doby during his debut, and throughout his major league career. While Bill Veeck was supportive of Larry Doby, the same could not have been said for the rest of the team. Epplin quotes Gordon Cobbledick: “an electric tension charged the steaming air. The wordless hostility seemed to crackle and spark. No one spoke a tentative ‘Hello.’ No one said, ‘Relax kid, you’re all tightened up.’ (167)” Doby’s first major league experience on his team truly showed the discrimination so apparent in the country at the time. While it was ironic that Cleveland were the first team to integrate in the American League, it is clear that Bill Veeck and some players on the Indians were in favor of it, and were accepting of the differences.
Epplin’s telling of Satchel Paige’s journey is told exactly as it was–a long and frustrating path. It’s made very clear to the reader that Paige had what it took to make it big in the league, but was held back because of racism in baseball and America. Also, other players didn’t give him the credit he deserved for his pitching. Bob Feller, Cleveland’s ace, consistently said that Paige didn’t have what it took to be a big league pitcher. However, Paige would often outpitch Feller in exhibition games, yet Feller still maintained his stance. First and foremost, what Paige’s journey to the big leagues shows is that baseball team owners and executives were willing to sacrifice their own team’s performance by not signing him, just to preserve Major League Baseball’s discriminatory practices, and to keep baseball a white, American sport. Even after Paige was signed, his role on the team was miniscule, and Cleveland did not take full advantage of his abilities. He was limited to bullpen pitching and was never put in when it mattered.
The book Our Team by Luke Epplin was a great read. I really enjoyed how the story was told, and I think that any fan of baseball would find it interesting learning more about Larry Doby, Satchel Paige, Bob Feller, and Bill Veeck. While the book highlighted some of the white players and management in the Cleveland organization, it still covered the topic of racism and discrimination related to Satchel Paige and Larry Doby playing professional baseball. The subject of racial integration in baseball is a very important one, and I believe that it’s important to go beyond the firsts, and to learn more about the continuation and how integration in baseball progressed throughout the years.
Romare Onishi is a rising 9th grader living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He plays baseball, and classical guitar. He enjoys watching the Minnesota Twins and spending time with friends and family.