it comes in pints?

I think the Pee Wee Reese thing is symbolism. No one was sure how he was going to be accepted and here's the shortstop (remember Jackie played second) treating him just like any other teammate... At least that's the way that I've always heard it.

Here's the wiki on that story:

"His most prestigious contribution to the sport was early support of the first black Major League Baseball player, Jackie Robinson. He refused to sign a petition that threatened a boycott if Robinson joined the team. When Robinson joined the Dodgers in 1947 and traveled with them during their first road trip, he was heckled by fans in Cincinnati, Ohio. Reese, the captain of the team, went over to Robinson and put his arm around his shoulder in a gesture of support which silenced the crowd. The gesture was especially telling because Reese was born and raised near then-segregated Louisville, Kentucky."

It was frankly a brave and noble gesture at the time.

That's it exactly. Reese was a redneck country boy from Kentucky; if any member of the team could be expected to give Robinson trouble, it would be him.

After I posted, Jon Miller elaborated more on it. Members of Reese's family were at the game, making it even more brave to do so.

Not sure about this part but I think it was about that petition that Reese said (more or less, I don't recall the exact quote), "If he plays well enough to take my job, he has a right to it."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't sportscasters kind of known for hyperbole and the belief that what happens in sport is the Most Important Thing Evah?

I mean, yeah - it's great, what Robinson did, and it sucks hard that a lot of really great players before him were relegated to the Negro Leagues instead of being in the Majors where they belonged.

but Robinson is hardly the most important American, let alone most important African-American, of the 20th century.

But considering that the OJ "trial" was dubbed "the trial of the century" (heard of Nuremburg, folks? heard of the Rosenbergs?) by the news media, I'm not entirely surprised.

Ricki - good point. That is exactly what sportscasters do, and with ESPN and etc. becoming 24-hour concerns, there is a LOT of airtime to fill. It's similar to the entertainment news that now coats the 24-hour 'news' outlets like spilled candy on a theater floor.

Branch Rickey was also adamant about Robinson - when he heard of the petition some of his players wanted to circulate, he told them in no uncertain terms that he'd ship every last one of them out of Brooklyn. (I think one poor sap was actually traded to the Cubs.)

Quick trivia - which teams were the last in each league to integrate?

'Fly - I used to know this but right now I can't remember.

Ricki, ain't it the truth?

Jackie Robinson's accomplishments were still more than just "sports" - they helped Truman decide to forcibly integrate the armed services and helped society at large to accept blacks, but still. Perspective?

Sportscasters do seem to have an overly skewed view of their role in the world, and a particularly parochial (i.e., east coast) one. I'll never forget the 1989 World Series, even before the quake. One dope was apparently amazed that in October it was still daylight at 5pm Pacific time (in the Pacific time zone no less!) What a maroon.

BTW, Branch Rickey was a fascinating character. He's been accused of recruiting Jackie Robinson to integrate the majors solely to make money. Well, he was into making money but he had, around the turn of the 20th century, integrated his own college baseball team and forced other colleges to play them.

My favorite Rickey story, though, is a decidedly capitalist one. I forget the player (I may look it up later tonight), but when Rickey was GM for the Pirates in the early 1950s, he forced his best player to take a pay cut. The player protested, noting how he had had a great season and posted some great numbers. Rickey responded that the Pirates had finished in last place and could have done so without this player.

Did you hear about Joe Morgan's comment about Don Imus? He compared it to the Virginia Tech shooting on the Dan Patrick show.

Go do a google search and see if you can find it. I just heard about it on a local ESPN radio show, but Morgan should be taken out back and beaten.

I hadn't heard about Morgan, but Barack Obama did the same.