The Ground Ball That Changed America

His story also allowed fans and sportswriters to recognize the links between baseball and the real world. Looking back on the day Robinson shattered baseball's color line, it's remarkable to see how little attention the historic event generated on sports pages.

Mentioned in passing

The Inquirer's wire-service story, for example, was buried well down the first sports page, beneath an account on the opening of Pennsylvania's trout season.

"For a lot of writers, an issue like race just wasn't on their radar screen," Eig said. "They weren't programmed to pay attention to that type of thing. A lot of them probably weren't even sure it was something they were supposed to be writing about."

One of Robinson's teammates that day was Eddie Stanky, a feisty second baseman who had grown up in Kensington.

Though the cover of Eig's book shows Stanky posing with his arms draped around Robinson and Reese just before the April 15 game, it's safe to assume that many Americans of the era were at best ambivalent about race.

But Robinson, more than anyone else, would change American attitudes on the subject. And he quickly converted his teammates, including Stanky, who after that pennant-winning season would be traded, opening up second base for Robinson.

"Dad talked about that first game and Jackie a lot," recalled Stanky's son, Mike, an executive with a laundry-equipment firm in Dallas. "He was so impressed by Jackie's raw ability and the way he dealt with everything he had to handle, that, despite what's been written over the years, they became really close.

"I think they both discovered that, despite their obvious differences, they were alike, very much alike."