"Strike Against Jackie Spiked," 1947

From The Baltimore Afro-American, May 17, 1947.

Strike Against Jackie Spiked

Rickey Terms Rumor

"Tempest in Teapot"

By SAM LACY

AFRO Sports Editor

Philadelphia

Despite emphatic denials on the part of the principal characters in the drama, it is an established fact that a move to promote a strike against the presence of Jackie Robinson in the National League was on foot here and in Brooklyn last week.

The strike, instigated by a small bloc of St. Louis Cardinal players who had fantastic visions of a general walkout later, was checked by League President Ford Frick and Cardinal owner Sam Breadon. Both denied this, however. . . .

Breadon Pleads Ignorance

Breadon asserted that he was not aware of the strike plan, and explained his hurried trip to Brooklyn last Tuesday as for the purpose of finding a means of improving the hapless 1948 champions currently floundering in last place in the league standings.

Whether Frick talked to the players in person or whether he sent them a written message, could not be confirmed when the Dodgers arrived here Friday to open a four-game series with the Phillies. But it is a known fact that he told the St. Louis team:

"If you do this (strike) you will be suspended from the league. You will find that the friends you think you have in the press box will not support you, that you will be outcasts. I do not care if half the league strikes. Those who do it will encounter quick retribution. All will be suspended and I don't care if it wrecks the National League for five years. This is the United States of America and one citizen has as much right to play as another.

"The National League will go down the line with Robinson whatever the consequences. You will find if you go through with your intention that you have been guilty of complete madness."

Rickey's Statement

Following on the heels of these denials, Branch Rickey, president of the Dodgers, attempted to brush off the matter with the assertion that it was "just a tempest in the teapot." . . .

But the AFRO learned this was not exactly true. While Rickey may have been sincere in his belief, it was discovered that the strike plan was actually in effect as early as last March, when several Brooklyn players sought to promote a petition demanding that Robinson be forgotten as a prospect for the Dodgers. . . .

Scheduled for May 6

Originally, the St. Louis walk-out was to have taken place on May 6, when the Cardinals went to Brooklyn for the first game of the series with that club. But the lowly state of the team in the National League race is believed to have given the players something else to think about. The anti-Robinson plan, consequently, lost much of its importance to them.

Although denials as to the existence of strike machinery have been general, and although none of the Cardinals admitted to New York newsmen that he was in any way involved, the AFRO determined here Saturday morning that three key players of the club were questioned at length by Breadon and Dyer during the club's stay in Brooklyn.

These were Terry Moore, center-fielder; Marty Marion, shortstop, and Stan Musial, first baseman. Moore and Marion are the Cardinals' representatives on the baseball players' committee, set up last year to thwart a union movement and to create a better understanding between players and owners.

Moore was born on Vernon, Ala., now resides in St. Louis. Marion, a native of Richbourg, S.C., lives in Iva, S.C. Musial is a native of Donors, Pa.