548 - It's Like, Whoa

This week, Georgia covers trailblazing baseball legend Jackie Robinson. For our sources, please visit https://www.myfavoritemurder.com/episodes. Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/3UFCn1g. Head to social media to share your favorite moments from this episode. Instagram: instagram.com/myfavoritemurder http://instagram.com/myfavoritemurder Facebook: facebook.com/myfavoritemurder http://facebook.com/myfavoritemurder TikTok: tiktok.com/@my_favorite_murder http://tiktok.com/@my_favorite_murder Send your hometown stories to [email protected] mailto:[email protected]. Join the Fan Cult to access ad-free episodes of My Favorite Murder. Members also receive merch store discounts, exclusive audio and video content and more! Visit www.fancult.supercast.com http://www.fancult.supercast.com/ to join. Shop for My Favorite Murder and other Exactly Right merchandise here: www.exactlyrightstore.com http://www.exactlyrightstore.com/. Rate, review and follow My Favorite Murder on the iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to listen. See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

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  That's one of the plagues of the Bible.

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• 1:33Georgia Hardstark?

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• 2:26Georgia Hardstark?

  Hello.

• 2:27Karen Kilgariff?

  And welcome.

• 2:27Georgia Hardstark?

  To My Favorite Murder.

• 2:28Karen Kilgariff?

  That's Georgia Hardstark.

• 2:30Georgia Hardstark?

  Thank you, that's Karen Calcare.

• 2:31Karen Kilgariff?

  You're welcome. And here, we are presenting you what we call a solo episode.

• 2:37Georgia Hardstark?

  It's a gift to ourselves.

• 2:39Karen Kilgariff?

  That's right.

• 2:40Georgia Hardstark?

  Essentially.

• 2:40Karen Kilgariff?

  That's right, where we get to take a little break.

• 2:42Georgia Hardstark?

  We record in advance, we do extra work in advance so that the future is brighter.

• 2:48Karen Kilgariff?

  We've all sat by a pool and said, hey, isn't this nice?

• 2:50Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 2:51Karen Kilgariff?

  We want that in our lives.

• 2:52Georgia Hardstark?

  That's right.

• 2:53Karen Kilgariff?

  A pool or a stream.

• 2:55Georgia Hardstark?

  A fucking running sink would be fine.

• 2:57Karen Kilgariff?

  Just stand near the sink with your hands in the water. But you can't do that if you're podcasting, so we gotta take a break.

• 3:04Georgia Hardstark?

  That's right, you have to work before you relax.

• 3:06Karen Kilgariff?

  That's right.

• 3:07Georgia Hardstark?

  Says the patriarchy, and so.

• 3:09Karen Kilgariff?

  And so do it.

• 3:10Georgia Hardstark?

  No, we're the literal business owners.

• 3:14Karen Kilgariff?

  We love this.

• 3:15Georgia Hardstark?

  This is one thing we can't blame on the patriarchy, unfortunately.

• 3:19Karen Kilgariff?

  This is the eustriarchy.

• 3:21Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, I love that.

• 3:23Karen Kilgariff?

  Let's end it.

• 3:26Georgia Hardstark?

  The eustriarchy. That gives you pause.

• 3:30Karen Kilgariff?

  Right, three-pointing back. Three-pointing back.

• 3:34Georgia Hardstark?

  So sick of her.

• 3:35Karen Kilgariff?

  God, if she would only shut up.

• 3:38Georgia Hardstark?

  She just can't help herself. This week, it's me who can't help herself and can't shut the fuck up by telling you a solo story.

• 3:47Karen Kilgariff?

  Let's see if I can shut the fuck up, I probably can't.

• 3:49Georgia Hardstark?

  And listen, it can't all be true crime all the time.

• 3:52Karen Kilgariff?

  Explain yourself at no time to no person.

• 3:55Georgia Hardstark?

  I'm doing it to us.

• 3:56Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, is this for the eustriarchy? Well, they say not good enough.

• 4:01Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, actually, she does fucking say that.

• 4:04Karen Kilgariff?

  She does, right? She's so tough, she's so mean.

• 4:07Georgia Hardstark?

  She talks a lot.

• 4:08Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, it's because she's a little sister.

• 4:10Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, that's right.

• 4:11Karen Kilgariff?

  No one listens.

• 4:11Georgia Hardstark?

  So today, I'm going to do a story about a sports legend.

• 4:15Karen Kilgariff?

  Okay, great.

• 4:16Georgia Hardstark?

  One of your favorite sports.

• 4:17Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, yeah?

• 4:18Georgia Hardstark?

  Baseball. Who many would argue that this sports legend.

• 4:22Karen Kilgariff?

  Babe Ruth?

• 4:23Georgia Hardstark?

  No. Wedged open the door for the civil rights movement.

• 4:27Karen Kilgariff?

  What?

• 4:27Georgia Hardstark?

  This is the story of baseball legend Jackie Robinson.

• 4:30Karen Kilgariff?

  Hell, yeah.

• 4:31Georgia Hardstark?

  Do you know anything about? You know what I'm talking about, obviously.

• 4:34Karen Kilgariff?

  Absolutely, and I've definitely watched a lot of documentaries with my dad that I would not, myself, have otherwise chosen.

• 4:41Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 4:41Karen Kilgariff?

  But then when I watch it, I'm like, I'm so glad I watched that.

• 4:44Georgia Hardstark?

  It's because Ken Burns could do no wrong.

• 4:45Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, oh, right.

• 4:47Georgia Hardstark?

  You know?

• 4:47Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 4:47Georgia Hardstark?

  So the main source of the story is the Ken Burns documentary, Jackie Robinson, and the rest of the sources can be found in the show notes.

• 4:53Karen Kilgariff?

  Incredible.

• 4:54Georgia Hardstark?

  So Jack Roosevelt Robinson is born January 31st, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia, to Mally and Jerry Robinson. And Theodore Roosevelt had died earlier in the month that Jack is born, so that's why his middle name is Roosevelt to tribute to Theodore Roosevelt.

• 5:10Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, that's weird to think that they existed right at the same. They like did a fold over.

• 5:15Georgia Hardstark?

  Overlap, right.

• 5:16Karen Kilgariff?

  That'll be my last comment.

• 5:19Georgia Hardstark?

  No, it won't, and I'm glad. Jack is the youngest of five children, and his father works as a sharecropper. At least two of Jack's grandparents had been enslaved. And I looked it up, in the year he's born, at least 21 African-Americans are hanged in Georgia alone. So we're deep in it, it's 1919, you know? Things are not easy. And there's so much more that I've left out of this just for time purposes, so definitely watch the Ken Burns documentary. Everyone's like, yeah, we're not going to just listen to you.

• 5:51Karen Kilgariff?

  This isn't where we get this kind of information.

• 5:53Georgia Hardstark?

  They're not playing this in schools.

• 5:55Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 5:55Georgia Hardstark?

  So the father, Jerry, winds up abandoning the family right around when Jack is six months old. And so left with five kids and very few options, Mally has to come up with a plan to take care of her family. So when Jack is a year old, Mally moves the family to Pasadena.

• 6:10Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh.

• 6:10Georgia Hardstark?

  Like, right down the street from us.

• 6:12Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, right around the corner, and like back then, it was like all orange groves on the west coast.

• 6:17Georgia Hardstark?

  Totally, and beautiful homes. And it is a really lovely community. So Mally's brother lives there, and so Mally moves there with her children, helping to find a better life, more opportunities, and less outright racism than is baked into the culture in Georgia. And while Pasadena is certainly less deadly, it's still very racist. Mally works as a maid in a white family's house, and only two years after moving to Pasadena, when Jack is three, Mally has saved up enough money to buy her own house. And she buys one in Pasadena on a street called Pepper Street, which is predominantly white. And so the neighbors are not welcoming. And in quaint little Pasadena, they burn a cross on her front lawn.

• 7:00Karen Kilgariff?

  I was going to say, because I remember, we talked about something else, and I remember learning that Glendale was a sundown town?

• 7:06Georgia Hardstark?

  Right.

• 7:06Karen Kilgariff?

  And that lots and lots of places, like.

• 7:08Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 7:08Karen Kilgariff?

  It's a lie we tell ourselves that California somehow was filled with a bunch of cool hippies that loved everybody. It's like, no, sundown town's left, right, and center. I mean, just horrifying.

• 7:19Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, 100%. I mean, it's why Altadena exists, is because they were pushed out of Pasadena.

• 7:24Karen Kilgariff?

  God.

• 7:25Georgia Hardstark?

  Also, neighbors called the cops on Jack's older brother when he's roller skating on the sidewalk, just not good. But Mally makes it known that she has no intentions of moving. And eventually, Jack himself falls in with what's called the Pepper Street Gang, which is a group of kids from the neighborhood from minority backgrounds. They stick together, they get into low-level mischief. They're playing baseball in the street and that kind of thing.

• 7:48Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 7:48Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah. When Jack is around 10, his classmates start to notice that he's an incredible baseball player. And so they start sharing their lunches with him in order to get him to play on their team. But Jack isn't the first star athlete of the family. This is so interesting. Jack's older brother, Mac, is a track star, and he competes on the 1936 US Olympic team in Berlin, the one that Jesse Owens, another black athlete, wins four gold medals.

• 8:16Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes.

• 8:16Georgia Hardstark?

  And he, in the 200-yard dash, Mac comes in second to Jesse Owens.

• 8:20Karen Kilgariff?

  Wow.

• 8:21Georgia Hardstark?

  I know.

• 8:22Karen Kilgariff?

  What a standard to set.

• 8:23Georgia Hardstark?

  Exactly.

• 8:24Karen Kilgariff?

  I mean.

• 8:25Georgia Hardstark?

  For everyone to see that and be like, that's.

• 8:28Karen Kilgariff?

  And also.

• 8:28Georgia Hardstark?

  And Hitler was so mad.

• 8:30Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes, I know, I love that. It's so good. But it also just makes me think about, and I'll just say this very quickly. But I just had this very old white lady realization. People talk about black excellence. It's because when you marginalize any group, and you basically are just like, oh, no matter what you do, you won't be good enough, then it's just like, then the levels go up and up and up.

• 8:52Georgia Hardstark?

  You can't just be okay at something. You have to be the actual very best to get anyone to take you seriously.

• 8:56Karen Kilgariff?

  He had to win the Olympics so everyone on Pepper Street was cool with the Robinson family.

• 9:01Georgia Hardstark?

  Totally.

• 9:05Georgia Hardstark?

  So Jack starts going to school at Pasadena Junior College and plays football, baseball, and basketball. His athletic abilities draw immediate attention, and he's recruited by basically any university that will accept black students. So a wealthy Stanford College alum offers to pay Jack's tuition at any school that he wants to go to, as long as that school doesn't play against Stanford. So you can't go, you can't go here, but we really don't want to ever play against you. That's how good you are.

• 9:36Karen Kilgariff?

  But hold on a second. Don't you think this is a little bit of an insight into the way rich people have been rigging the game?

• 9:43Georgia Hardstark?

  Absolutely. No, it's absolute bullshit.

• 9:45Karen Kilgariff?

  But I mean, like, I've never heard of that.

• 9:46Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 9:47Karen Kilgariff?

  That's cheating. This is fucking crazy.

• 9:50Georgia Hardstark?

  And it's not like, well, why not just let black people in? No, we just don't.

• 9:53Karen Kilgariff?

  No, no, no.

• 9:54Georgia Hardstark?

  No, no, we don't do that. For other reasons, and because this would rule out many major West Coast schools, Jack turns the offer down and attends UCLA, where he plays football, basketball, and baseball.

• 10:04Karen Kilgariff?

  Wow.

• 10:05Georgia Hardstark?

  But in the spring, during the baseball season, he also runs track. So he's doing everything at UCLA, where like, the bar is high. You have to be good at everything.

• 10:13Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes. But also, then that's great conditioning. Like, in between your sport, you're just doing more sports.

• 10:18Georgia Hardstark?

  Totally. So that's four sports. He letters in all of them. So Ali wrote this in the research. On one occasion during a football game, he had a 65-yard punt return. And I was like, I don't know what that means, and I don't know how to know if that's good or not. So I turned to Vince, and I go, Vince, what's a good punt return number? And he gave me some numbers, and then he goes like, he goes, quote, "40 is like, whoa." That's what Vince said. So 65-yard punt return.

• 10:45Karen Kilgariff?

  His voice like, whoa.

• 10:47Georgia Hardstark?

  Double wow. And the University of Washington fans who are playing UCLA, they join in giving him a standing ovation when he does that against their team, because it's so unheard of.

• 10:56Karen Kilgariff?

  I know a lot of things make me cry.

• 10:57Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 10:58Karen Kilgariff?

  But when the opposite team starts cheering, and they go above and beyond, like, competition?

• 11:04Georgia Hardstark?

  This is, yeah.

• 11:05Karen Kilgariff?

  You have to give it up for this. It's so amazing.

• 11:08Georgia Hardstark?

  And, oh, he told me the average is nine to 10 in pro, and 40 is like, whoa.

• 11:13Karen Kilgariff?

  Nine to 10 yards?

• 11:15Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, for a punt return. Ask your dad.

• 11:18Karen Kilgariff?

  I love learning.

• 11:19Georgia Hardstark?

  I know. It's during his college sports career that the press gives him the name Jackie, although his family always calls him Jack. So Jackie is just a nickname that he doesn't even use.

• 11:30Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, okay.

• 11:31Georgia Hardstark?

  Which is so interesting. But I'm gonna call him Jack, since that's his name.

• 11:33Karen Kilgariff?

  Okay.

• 11:34Georgia Hardstark?

  While they're covering his incredible talent, they often add in incredibly offensive racist tropes in their writing, which surprises no one. During Jack's senior year, he meets a freshman nursing student named Rachel Isom, and she's the daughter of a disabled World War I vet. Actually, you want to see some pictures?

• 11:52Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes, please.

• 11:53Georgia Hardstark?

  So let's see some pictures of Jackie. Sportsy pictures. There's like, some good close-up photos of, yeah, there we go, that one.

• 11:57Karen Kilgariff?

  Wow.

• 11:58Georgia Hardstark?

  I know.

• 11:59Karen Kilgariff?

  I mean, it's so hard to be good at every sport.

• 12:02Georgia Hardstark?

  Totally.

• 12:03Karen Kilgariff?

  It's so crazy.

• 12:05Georgia Hardstark?

  This is Jack with Rachel Isom, which will be his future wife. Look at her. Is she not the cutest?

• 12:11Karen Kilgariff?

  They both have such perfect faces.

• 12:13Georgia Hardstark?

  I mean, they're gorgeous. They're so gorgeous.

• 12:15Karen Kilgariff?

  So sorry, you get to be good at every single sport and hot?

• 12:18Georgia Hardstark?

  And super hot, and then get the cutest wife on the planet. So she's a nursing student, Rachel. She's the daughter of a disabled World War I vet, and her mom owns her own very successful catering business. And at this point, there's a small number of black students at UCLA, Rachel being one of them. And she knows of Jack, of course, because he's locally famous as the athlete. And she had expected him to be cocky and annoying because of this. Someone wanted to set them up. She's pleasantly surprised. Their first date is at the UCLA homecoming dance at the Biltmore Hotel.

• 12:51Karen Kilgariff?

  Ooh.

• 12:52Georgia Hardstark?

  And they quickly fall in love and become a serious couple.

• 12:55Karen Kilgariff?

  Can you imagine going to like, a dance with a guy that's the star of every single sport and game?

• 13:00Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah. She talks, in the Ken Burns documentary, and there's so much more about her. I'm unhappy to have to leave out for time, but she talks about her expectations of him and how wrong she was, because he was so great. Yeah. After Jack graduates, he moves to Honolulu to play for a regional football team called the Bears. He leaves Honolulu on December 5, 1941, which you know is two days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. You were gonna say that.

• 13:26Karen Kilgariff?

  I was, and I wanted to interrupt you so badly.

• 13:28Georgia Hardstark?

  So he's at sea, like, coming back home on a fucking ship when Pearl Harbor is attacked.

• 13:36Karen Kilgariff?

  Wow.

• 13:37Georgia Hardstark?

  So he enlists in the army shortly after. Long story there, but in the end, he asks to leave the military and is granted an honorable discharge. After leaving the army, Jack goes to play baseball in what's called the Negro Leagues. While many of the players Jackie comes across are incredibly talented in this league, he's frustrated by the lack of resources available to the teams. He's equally frustrated by the racist treatment his team gets when traveling. So there are some gas stations that won't allow black people to use the bathrooms. And so he implements this tradition where, if they won't let us use the bathroom, we're not purchasing gas from them.

• 14:12Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 14:13Georgia Hardstark?

  And, you know, it's the 30s and 40s. Money is needed for these gas stations, and so they end up getting to use the bathroom a lot of times because of this rule, because they stand up for themselves. All through the 30s and into the 40s, there's been discussion about integrating Major League Baseball. Mostly, there's been pressure from black sportswriters and progressive groups, but not a huge amount of interest within the MLB, or many of the team managers, of course. There isn't an official rule keeping black players out of the major leagues, but there's an unspoken one. So a man named Branch Rickey, the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, what was then the Brooklyn Dodgers?

• 14:49Karen Kilgariff?

  What was, and later to become the...

• 14:52Georgia Hardstark?

  Los Angeles Dodgers. So what if I didn't know that?

• 14:54Karen Kilgariff?

  You've been to so many games, you had no idea.

• 14:57Georgia Hardstark?

  I actually have a Brooklyn Dodgers shirt. They like, put out old-timey ones.

• 15:00Karen Kilgariff?

  That's cool.

• 15:01Georgia Hardstark?

  Really cute. It's cute. That's why I got it.

• 15:04Karen Kilgariff?

  It's cute, and I love fashion.

• 15:05Georgia Hardstark?

  So this guy, Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers, wants to be the first manager to sign a black player. He wants this for a few reasons. The first is that he's a devout Christian, and he thinks it's the right thing to do. The second is that he sees the caliber of athletes that are playing in the Negro Leagues, and he wants those athletes playing on his team. So he's not a racist, like everybody else, essentially.

• 15:27Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, he's...

• 15:28Georgia Hardstark?

  Normal. The third is that he thinks having black players will bring in more people to the ballpark. He knows that they're just, they have this huge audience in black baseball fans that are not spending their money watching baseball.

• 15:41Karen Kilgariff?

  No value in the segregation whatsoever. There's no reason.

• 15:45Georgia Hardstark?

  Exactly. And this is at odds with the attitude over at the Yankees, also in New York, of course, who specifically do not want black baseball fans at the park, and they make no secret of this. So Rickey starts to focus on Jack specifically. He's heard about his several brushes with the law that Jackie's had in the past, and he's actually drawn to this, because he knows that whomever the first black player is in the major leagues is going to face significant pushback. So he wants someone who has experience with this, and someone who can take it, in a way, and has the urge to fight back, but also has the strength to temper this urge. So has been tested, and has come out a better person for it.

• 16:28Karen Kilgariff?

  So it's any black player. I mean, who...

• 16:30Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that's a good point. Meanwhile, Jack and Rachel get married in February of 1946. He's 26, and she's 23. And for a season, he plays in Montreal with the Royals, which is the Dodgers' farm team, kind of like a tryout team. And then later that year, he and Rachel have their first child together named Jackie Junior. What are you laughing at?

• 16:52Karen Kilgariff?

  When you said royale like that, I was gonna say royale with cheese.

• 16:54Georgia Hardstark?

  I know. I always want to say that.

• 16:55Karen Kilgariff?

  And then I said, stop talking. Stop it.

• 16:59Speaker 01

  911, what's your emergency? Please help us, they're everywhere! We think they're murder hornets. 911 Nashville returns.

• 17:09Speaker 02

  What's a homicide detective doing here?

• 17:11Speaker 03

  Three bodies on the ground.

• 17:12Speaker 01

  With emergencies of biblical proportions.

• 17:15Speaker 03

  All sins swarms upon you and upon your people.

• 17:18Speaker 02

  That's one of the plagues of the Bible.

• 17:19Speaker 03

  And somebody's unleashing them on Nashville.

• 17:22Speaker 01

  Brian Phillippe joins 911 Nashville. All new Thursdays on ABC, next day on Hulu.

• 17:29Speaker 00

  Whether you're buying, renting, or selling, Zillow can help make your someday today. To help find a home that fits where you are in life, or that apartment that's a little closer to where you want to be. Zillow has the right information, tools, and support to help turn your future home into a reality. Because someday starts today. Visit zillow.com/today to get started.

• 17:54Speaker 04

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses, like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 help make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of 5-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 18:25Georgia Hardstark?

  For the following season in the spring of 1947, Jackie is called up to the major leagues and makes his debut at Ebbets Field with the Dodgers on April 15th. In his opening game against the Boston Braves, who would later move to Milwaukee and later Atlanta, you knew that.

• 18:41Karen Kilgariff?

  I knew that whole journey.

• 18:42Georgia Hardstark?

  Same. Jackie does not get a hit, but he also doesn't strike out. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Jackie tries to bunt a runner ahead, which would generally result in him being thrown out. But he's, I don't know what I'm saying right now. But he's so fast, he forces a throwing error and gets on base because of that.

• 19:00Karen Kilgariff?

  Which is crazy.

• 19:02Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 19:02Karen Kilgariff?

  It's big.

• 19:03Georgia Hardstark?

  He ends up scoring the go-ahead run. And then it says in the alley route, "The run that breaks a tie, putting the batting team in the lead." Got it. And the Dodgers win 5 to 3. So he does win his first game, even though he didn't score.

• 19:17Karen Kilgariff?

  Well, it sounds like he was kind of the reason that Steph scored, though.

• 19:19Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, exactly.

• 19:20Karen Kilgariff?

  That's good.

• 19:21Georgia Hardstark?

  And it should be mentioned that the Dodgers at this time are often bad, beginning each season with high hopes and generally ending in disappointment. But the previous season, they had placed second in the National League, and the hope is that this will finally be their year. So teams vote to strike about the integration. But ultimately, though, no teams actually strike. Instead, they play the games as scheduled. But this means Jackie faces constant physical and verbal abuse from opposing players and fans. When the Phillies come to Ebbets Field, their manager, Ben Chapman, not only joins his players in taunting Jackie from the dugout, but he leads the taunts. He relentlessly yells racist jeers at him throughout the entire game. So he's playing against that, too.

• 20:02Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 20:03Georgia Hardstark?

  He also encounters physical abuse on the field. Pitchers throw the ball at his head. When he's batting, Jackie has to be moved from second base to first base to make it less likely that runners will purposely slide into him with their spikes, because you know you slide into second.

• 20:17Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 20:18Georgia Hardstark?

  I know that.

• 20:19Karen Kilgariff?

  Into third, didn't you?

• 20:20Georgia Hardstark?

  Second and third.

• 20:21Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, okay.

• 20:21Georgia Hardstark?

  They move to first. But it still happens several times during that first season, even though it's not fucking necessary.

• 20:26Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, no one's sliding into first, and somehow he's still getting him.

• 20:29Georgia Hardstark?

  Exactly. Jackie's performance grows steadily better and better over the course of the season. I mean, he's the guinea pig.

• 20:36Karen Kilgariff?

  He's the Ruby Bridges of baseball.

• 20:38Georgia Hardstark?

  Right, and he's like, "Well, I'm gonna..."

• 20:39Karen Kilgariff?

  But he's not six years old.

• 20:40Georgia Hardstark?

  "Prove them." Right.

• 20:42Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes.

• 20:42Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah. He's getting hits, and the Dodgers are winning games. Jackie plays with a level of speed and daring that is unusual in the major leagues, but is more common in the Negro leagues, where he first played professionally. So this is nothing for him. He's known for stealing bases, particularly for stealing home, which isn't normal. It requires perfect timing and judgment. By the summer, the Dodgers are in first place in the National League. Jackie is a local hero in New York, and he's a national hero on the road, attracting new black fans who want to watch him play in every city the Dodgers go to.

• 21:17Karen Kilgariff?

  That must have been so exciting.

• 21:19Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah. I think we've got some photos from that era. Show them in his military uniform.

• 21:24Karen Kilgariff?

  My god.

• 21:24Georgia Hardstark?

  I know.

• 21:25Karen Kilgariff?

  Wow.

• 21:26Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, the photo of him stealing a base, yeah.

• 21:28Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, my god.

• 21:29Georgia Hardstark?

  So good.

• 21:30Karen Kilgariff?

  It almost makes you want to follow sports or something. It seems like they're doing exciting stuff over there.

• 21:36Georgia Hardstark?

  It does.

• 21:37Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, that's crazy.

• 21:38Georgia Hardstark?

  So that same summer, Cleveland, an American League team, also signs a black player, Larry Dobby. Now, Major League Baseball is integrating in both leagues, because you know there's two, and then they play against each other, and then whoever.

• 21:51Karen Kilgariff?

  That's right.

• 21:51Georgia Hardstark?

  I know that.

• 21:52Karen Kilgariff?

  I sure do know that.

• 21:53Georgia Hardstark?

  After winning a series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Dodgers become the National League champions. Jackie has the most home runs, doubles, runs scored, and has the most stolen bases in the entire National League.

• 22:07Karen Kilgariff?

  AKA, fuck you.

• 22:09Georgia Hardstark?

  Exactly. Come at me, bro.

• 22:12Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 22:12Georgia Hardstark?

  The World Series ends in heartbreak, though, when the Dodgers lose in seven games to the Yankees. Oh, that had to hurt.

• 22:19Karen Kilgariff?

  But they got there. It was so much further than they were.

• 22:22Georgia Hardstark?

  That's right. In the 1948 season, Jackie hits about as well as he had previously, but he has fewer stolen bases, and the Dodgers don't do as well. But in 1949, they once again win the National League pennant, but lose to the Yankees again in the World Series. In 1950, Jackie plays himself in the movie, "The Jackie Robinson Story", and this, to some extent, enshrines some of the myths that are bandied about, about Jackie never fighting back and whatnot. In reality, during this era in his baseball career, he was actually becoming more bold in challenging umpires when they made bad calls against him, which were likely influenced by racism.

• 22:58Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 22:59Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 22:59Karen Kilgariff?

  My god.

• 23:00Georgia Hardstark?

  At this point, there are a handful of black players scattered across the Major League and several on the Dodgers. On one occasion, an anonymous letter threatens to kill Jackie Robinson and Don Newcombe, another black player, if they enter the field in Cincinnati. FBI agents position themselves all over the stadium, but nothing happens. Throughout the first half of the 1950s, the Dodgers have some great seasons, but never get that World Series win. Jackie's also faced with a setback of being diagnosed at the age of 33 with diabetes and heart disease. He doesn't bring this diagnosis up with the team, and with treatment, he's still playing well. He and Rachel have two more children at this point, Sharon and David. Actually, let's see the family photo. It's so cute.

• 23:43Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh.

• 23:44Georgia Hardstark?

  I know. So cute. Got those trophies, too.

• 23:48Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah. I bet there's a lot of pressure. It's like, your uncle was an Olympian. Your father is the best baseball player ever. No.

• 23:55Georgia Hardstark?

  Right. While the Dodgers keep losing the World Series to the Yankees, Robinson is critical of the team as a racist institution and points out in interviews that they have yet to integrate the Yankees, while at this point, many other teams in baseball have. And Rachel herself says she finds this northern flavor of racism even more insidious than in the South, because it pretends not to be racist.

• 24:18Karen Kilgariff?

  That's fucking right on.

• 24:19Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah. She encounters it repeatedly when they try to buy a house in Westchester and in Connecticut, and sellers either refuse to show their homes or yank them off the market when the Robinsons make an offer.

• 24:30Karen Kilgariff?

  Wait, I think you're about to tell my favorite story.

• 24:32Georgia Hardstark?

  About Carly Simon's family? Oh, my god, did you? I didn't know this.

• 24:36Karen Kilgariff?

  I saw TikTok. And it was just like, wait, what? And then I was like, is this real?

• 24:41Georgia Hardstark?

  It's real, finally.

• 24:43Karen Kilgariff?

  Yay.

• 24:43Georgia Hardstark?

  Singer Carly Simon's mother, Andrea Simon, this blew my mind, too, whose husband is co-owner of Simon & Schuster.

• 24:50Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, she's a big money, yeah.

• 24:52Georgia Hardstark?

  That's the book.

• 24:53Karen Kilgariff?

  Publishing company.

• 24:55Georgia Hardstark?

  I had no idea.

• 24:56Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 24:56Georgia Hardstark?

  So the Carly Simon's family helps the Robinsons buy property in Stamford, Connecticut, and the Robinsons live with the Simons while their house is being built.

• 25:05Karen Kilgariff?

  So essentially, like, they went in and basically did all the paperwork as if they were the ones doing it.

• 25:09Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 25:10Karen Kilgariff?

  And got everything approved?

• 25:11Georgia Hardstark?

  And then let them live there.

• 25:13Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 25:13Georgia Hardstark?

  So incredible. That's like beyond just being friendly. You know what I mean?

• 25:17Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes, exactly. Well, that's, you have your eyes on like a real future of how it's supposed to be, as opposed to what it's like right now, and then you're doing something to try to get there.

• 25:26Georgia Hardstark?

  Exactly. The Robinson kids are the first black kids in their school, and they are excluded from country clubs, hockey rinks, and dance schools.

• 25:37Speaker 07

  911, what's your emergency?

• 25:41Speaker 07

  Please help us. They're everywhere. We think they're murder wantons.

• 25:45Speaker 01

  911 Nashville returns.

• 25:48Speaker 02

  What's a homicide detective doing here?

• 25:49Speaker 03

  Three bodies on the ground.

• 25:51Speaker 01

  With emergencies of biblical proportions.

• 25:53Speaker 03

  Owls and swarms upon you and upon your people. That's one of the plagues for Bible. And somebody's unleashing them on Nashville.

• 26:00Speaker 01

  Brian Phillippe joins 911 Nashville. All new Thursdays on ABC, next day on Hulu.

• 26:07Speaker 00

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• 27:03Georgia Hardstark?

  In 1955, the Dodgers once again faced the Yankees in the World Series. Jackie, in his mid-30s at this point, is not as fast as he once was. I guess in baseball, that's old.

• 27:13Karen Kilgariff?

  It's very important.

• 27:14Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, mid-30s.

• 27:15Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 27:16Georgia Hardstark?

  But he steals home for the 19th time in his career during this series. In Game 7, the Dodgers win, earning the Dodgers their first championship in their 72-year history.

• 27:28Karen Kilgariff?

  I just realized that in the other two times when they lost to the Yankees, that was Brooklyn versus New York City.

• 27:35Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 27:36Karen Kilgariff?

  That's so intense.

• 27:37Georgia Hardstark?

  That had to be wild.

• 27:39Karen Kilgariff?

  Crazy.

• 27:40Georgia Hardstark?

  And they do it with roughly equal numbers of black and white players in the lineup against the all-white Yankees.

• 27:47Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 27:48Georgia Hardstark?

  That had to feel so good.

• 27:49Karen Kilgariff?

  So good.

• 27:50Georgia Hardstark?

  I wish I was there.

• 27:51Karen Kilgariff?

  I know. That's good.

• 27:52Georgia Hardstark?

  Jackie plays one final season with the Dodgers, helping them once again win the National League Championship, and they lose to the Yankees in the 1956 World Series, unfortunately. Jackie retires at the age of 38. His legacy has opened the door for some of baseball's greatest players like Willie Mays.

• 28:09Karen Kilgariff?

  Willie Mays.

• 28:10Georgia Hardstark?

  And Hank Aaron, who will become legendary. In 1958, the Brooklyn Dodgers move to Los Angeles because they don't agree with New York City planner Rob Moses's plan to move the stadium to Queens. Moses's vision for New York was car-centric, and achieving this vision to move to Queens would destroy a lot of minority neighborhoods.

• 28:31Karen Kilgariff?

  Mm-hmm.

• 28:32Georgia Hardstark?

  But then, you know, let's talk about Chavez Ravine for a hot minute.

• 28:35Karen Kilgariff?

  It's how they do it every time. Where are we gonna put this freeway?

• 28:38Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, like, that's not what this is about today, but let's not forget Chavez Ravine, which is a vibrant, working-class Mexican-American community in Los Angeles at one point. Anyway, in 1962, Jackie is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Throughout the 1960s, he participates in the civil rights movement, joining Martin Luther King Jr. for many events and speaking engagements. The whole Robinson family attends the march on Washington in August of 1963. Jackie writes newspaper columns expressing his support for candidates whom he thinks will further civil rights causes. Jackie also helps open the Freedom National Bank, a black-owned bank that focuses on securing loans for black people who were discriminated against by other financial institutions,

• 29:22Georgia Hardstark?

  and the bank's a big success. In 1971, Jackie Robinson Jr., their first child, dies in a car accident at the age of 24.

• 29:31Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, no.

• 29:32Georgia Hardstark?

  He had fought in Vietnam, struggled with and overcame a drug addiction after returning home, and had become a counselor for other people battling addiction.

• 29:40Karen Kilgariff?

  It's tragic.

• 29:41Georgia Hardstark?

  Uh-huh. Just one year later, Jackie Robinson dies at the age of 54 of a heart attack in October of 1972.

• 29:49Karen Kilgariff?

  His life, the amount of stress that man had to just deal with for his entire career and life is wild.

• 29:57Georgia Hardstark?

  For sure.

• 29:58Karen Kilgariff?

  Crazy.

• 29:59Georgia Hardstark?

  While he's having a heart attack, he comes running out of his room, hugs Rachel, and says, "I love you" to her as he sinks to the floor.

• 30:07Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh.

• 30:08Georgia Hardstark?

  She was the love of his life.

• 30:09Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, God.

• 30:12Georgia Hardstark?

  Just nine days before his death, he had thrown out the ceremonial first pitch at the World Series in Cincinnati, the city where he had received death threats 30 years earlier.

• 30:22Karen Kilgariff?

  God.

• 30:23Georgia Hardstark?

  Jackie had made a brief speech at the appearance, saying, quote, "I'm extremely proud and pleased to be here this afternoon, but must admit, I'm going to be tremendously more pleased and more proud when I look at that third-base coaching line one day and see a black face managing in baseball," end quote. This will happen a few years later in 1975. Many people believe that the integration of baseball was a pivotal moment that helped give rise to the later civil rights movement. In the Ken Burns documentary, President Barack Obama says, quote, "Jackie Robinson laid the foundation for America to see its black citizens as subjects and not just objects. It meant that there were six and seven and eight-year-old boys who suddenly thought

• 31:05Georgia Hardstark?

  a black man was a hero," end quote. Jackie's wife, Rachel Robinson, is still alive and recently celebrated her 104th birthday.

• 31:15Karen Kilgariff?

  What?

• 31:16Georgia Hardstark?

  In this past July, 2026.

• 31:18Karen Kilgariff?

  Does she still live in her house in Connecticut?

• 31:20Georgia Hardstark?

  I don't know. Let's go visit her. In 1973, after her husband's death, she started the Jackie Robinson Foundation, which provides scholarships and mentoring opportunities to minority students. She did this in addition to being a psychiatric nurse.

• 31:35Karen Kilgariff?

  Hey!

• 31:36Georgia Hardstark?

  Like your mom.

• 31:37Karen Kilgariff?

  Hey there!

• 31:38Georgia Hardstark?

  An assistant professor at Yale and a director of nursing at the Connecticut Mental Health Center.

• 31:43Karen Kilgariff?

  Wow.

• 31:44Georgia Hardstark?

  So this woman, on her own, is just legendary.

• 31:46Karen Kilgariff?

  She is. If she's anything like my mother, she's not fucking around.

• 31:50Georgia Hardstark?

  She never remarried.

• 31:51Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, don't even.

• 31:53Georgia Hardstark?

  I know. I know. I know. It's hard. In 1997, Jackie's number, 42, is retired from all of baseball, meaning that no player can wear it again. It's common for individual teams to retire a number for one of the greats. I didn't know this, but Jackie's the only player to have his number retired across all of baseball. She's gonna cry, you guys.

• 32:17Karen Kilgariff?

  Well, I was gonna yell, "Fuck all y'all," but that's because I really just wanna cry, because this is a man who then, he had to be the cutting edge. He had to be, he was the tool by which all of that integration happened, and then he got to live to see the day where it was happening and was real.

• 32:36Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah. On April 15th each year, the anniversary of Jackie's first major league game, all major league players wear special uniforms with his number, 42, in observance of Jackie Robinson Day.

• 32:48Karen Kilgariff?

  Mm-hmm.

• 32:49Georgia Hardstark?

  And that is the story of baseball legend Jackie Robinson.

• 32:52Karen Kilgariff?

  Well, I mean, I think this change of pace suits us.

• 32:56Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 32:57Karen Kilgariff?

  Because we get to enjoy a new thing. We get to meet a hero. I've watched some stuff on Jackie Robinson, but it is just so incredible to hear the details of what a difficult life adds up to.

• 33:10Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 33:11Karen Kilgariff?

  The thing you can't imagine or think about or rarely do when you're in the shit is that the shit is the stairs by which you climb up to the top.

• 33:21Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 33:22Karen Kilgariff?

  And you gotta get in there and do it.

• 33:23Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, definitely. And the inspiration, you can beat other people.

• 33:27Karen Kilgariff?

  You can play first base, Georgia.

• 33:28Georgia Hardstark?

  Me?

• 33:29Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes, or third.

• 33:30Georgia Hardstark?

  No, thank you.

• 33:31Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes, you can.

• 33:32Georgia Hardstark?

  I'll get a hot dog.

• 33:33Karen Kilgariff?

  Put your hand up.

• 33:34Georgia Hardstark?

  Cheer it on.

• 33:35Karen Kilgariff?

  Put your... No hot dogs on this team. Get serious.

• 33:40Georgia Hardstark?

  Amazing. Well.

• 33:41Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes, great job.

• 33:42Georgia Hardstark?

  Thank you so much. I was excited to do that one. That is a solo episode.

• 33:47Karen Kilgariff?

  When will it come out?

• 33:48Georgia Hardstark?

  Who knows?

• 33:49Karen Kilgariff?

  What will happen?

• 33:50Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, my God.

• 33:51Karen Kilgariff?

  Well, until that happens, stay sexy.

• 33:53Georgia Hardstark?

  And don't get murdered.

• 33:54Karen Kilgariff?

  Goodbye.

• 33:55Speaker 04

  Elvis, do you want a cookie? Ah!

• 34:05Karen Kilgariff?

  This has been an Exactly Right Production.

• 34:07Georgia Hardstark?

  Our managing producer is Molly Smith.

• 34:09Karen Kilgariff?

  Our consulting producer is Kate Schellbach.

• 34:11Georgia Hardstark?

  Our creative lead is Allison Agosti.

• 34:13Karen Kilgariff?

  Our associate producer is Tessa Hughes, and our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.

• 34:17Georgia Hardstark?

  This episode was mixed by Leona Scolacci.

• 34:19Karen Kilgariff?

  Our researchers are Maren McLaughlin and Ally Elkin.

• 34:22Georgia Hardstark?

  Email your hometowns to [email protected] and follow the show on Instagram at MyFavoriteMurder.

• 34:28Karen Kilgariff?

  Listen to My Favorite Murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 34:33Georgia Hardstark?

  Or watch new episodes every week on Netflix. Search for My Favorite Murder, add us to your list, and hit the double thumbs up button.

• 34:39Karen Kilgariff?

  Goodbye. Calling all amateur detectives and podcast obsessives.

• 34:53Georgia Hardstark?

  Virgin Voyages' second True Crime Voyage sets sail March 20th, 2027, for a five-night escape to Grand Turk and the Beach Club at Bimini.

• 35:01Karen Kilgariff?

  As part of the On Air at Sea collection, this immersive sailing brings together fan-favorite podcasts, including Disgrace Land, Buried Bones, and Wisecrack, for live recordings, behind-the-scenes access, exclusive meet-and-greets, and crime-themed programming that you won't find anywhere else.

• 35:18Georgia Hardstark?

  All aboard our award-winning, kid-free ships.

• 35:20Karen Kilgariff?

  Head over to virginvoyages.com/truecrime to secure your spot.

• 35:25Georgia Hardstark?

  Goodbye.

• 35:26Speaker 00

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• 36:02Speaker 07

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