Go44dad posted:RJM posted:IEBSBL posted:Would you want to be the scout that passed on the kid only to then have the team behind you draft him and have him sign?
One day the Red Sox were working out Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays. Owner Tom Yawkey told the manager to get those niggers off my field.
Can you imagine the change in baseball history had the Red Sox signed them? Can you imagine the difference in race relations in Boston if Robinson and Mays had become icons of the city?
I think you are mixing some known truth with myth. Please source where Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson were both on the field "trying out" for the Red Sox.
I found this:
That was easy to fix. Legendary black sportswriter Wendell Smith brought three Negro Leaguers to town: .338-hitting 2B Marvin Williams, outfielder Sam Jethroe (1950 NL Rookie of the Year with the Boston Braves)...and rookie shortstop Jackie Robinson. During their workout with the Sox a voice in the distance, widely believed to be Collins', shouted "Get those ******* off the field."
Even after Robinson integrated the majors, the Red Sox rejected black players who were practically dropped in their lap. The general manager of their AA team in Birmingham, Alabama alerted them to a phenomenal prospect on the Birmingham Black Barons whose contract could be bought for only $5,000. Even though the Red Sox' local scout echoed the rave reviews, GM Joe Cronin wasn't interested...and so Willie Mays became a Giant.