Jackie Goes to Wrigley

By David Marasco

All of baseball is celebrating 1997 as the Golden Anniversary of Jackie Robinson crossing the color barrier. Fifty years ago this May Jackie and the Dodgers visited Wrigley Field. Reports from the conservative Chicago Tribune and the African American based Chicago Defender offer interesting perspectives on the event.

A look at the attendance charts shows when this game was played. May 18, 1947 featured the largest paid crowd for any single game in Wrigley Field history. The Chicago Tribune explains the gate of 46,572, "There was no doubt that the new paid record was set because Robinson, the much discussed Negro athlete, was making his first baseball appearance in Chicago, as a big leaguer." The only larger crowd was in 1930 when 51,556 saw the Cubs. However, there are two other facts to that game. First, over 30,000 of those fans were women who came in for free for Ladies Day. Second, that was back in the days when the fire department allowed management to let overflow crowds take the outfield. The Defender noted that over 20,000 were turned away, and then went on to toot its own horn. Quoting a Cubs official, the Defender claimed that the fans were "The most orderly large crowd in the history of Wrigley Field... We were pleased to note that the Negro fans behaved better than our average Sunday fans for which we thank the Defender for its part in this."

The Dodgers handed the Cubs a 4-2 loss, their fifth in a row. However, Jackie would see his 14-game hitting streak snapped when he went 0-4 in the second slot. As he did many times in 1947, Robinson played first base, committing his second error of the year. It would lead to no runs.

The Cubs had scored two runs in the fourth when they were able to bunch several base hits. In the seventh Peewee Reese led off with a walk, and Tom Brown, pinch hitting for Joe Hatten, singled off of Johnny Schmitz. Eddie Stanky then beat out a bunt to load the bases for Jackie. He managed to battle his way to a full count, but then watched a called strike three. Pete Reiser doubled to left, tying up the ballgame. Carl Furillo was given an intentional walk, but when Dixie Walker grounded to second the Dodgers put the go-ahead run on the scoreboard. Cookie Lavagetto was given a free pass, but then Bruce Edwards drew a walk, forcing in the fourth run. That was it for Schmitz, Hank Wyse came in to pitch. He was able to retire Reese to end the inning.

And that was it, an exciting ballgame for one of the largest crowds in Wrigley Field history. The newspaper accounts tell of only one reaction to racism. According to the Defender, "Other than Robinson [the fans] paid attention to one Dixie Walker who was the recipient of plenty of boos."