Hogan: After Jackie: The New York Giants clubhouse in the 1950s

From SABR member Larry Hogan at The National Pastime Museum on September 25, 2014:

When it comes to telling the story of the integration of baseball, “Never mind Jackie Robinson?” Time out. That sounds like heresy.

But there were other integration stages besides the one in Brooklyn where Robinson worked his magic on the playing field of the borough’s beloved Dodgers while Branch Rickey managed things business and public relations–wise from the front office. These stages give us other stories to tell. Looking at places other than Brooklyn, we learn what Ed Logan Jr. meant when he said, “The Giants really got into it.”

Logan was the batboy in the late 1950s for the Dodgers’ cross-town National League–rival Giants. Before that, as the son of the clubhouse manager, he was a frequent presence with a team that was second only to the Dodgers in the number of black players on the roster. And for at least one season, the Giants had more blacks than the “Bums” from Brooklyn. Logan was up close when the Giants began integrating the team on July 8, 1949—the date the team’s first two black players, Monte Irvin and Hank Thompson, joined the club’s ranks. As measured by the Dodgers’ standard, the Giants were slow to integrate. Jackie came in on April 15, 1947.

Read the full article here: http://www.thenationalpastimemuseum.com/article/what-happened-after-jackie



Originally published: September 30, 2014. Last Updated: September 30, 2014.