9 Chapter 8 Game Change

Chapter 8 Game Change The Monarchs were playing at Comisky Park, the famous Chicago ball field. Jackie was out warming up when a white man waved him over. He was a scout looking for new players to join the Brooklyn Dodgers.

That season the Dodgers had finished third in the National League. Somehow, it seemed like the team was always struggling. In fifty-five years, they'd only been in three World Series and had never won. The team's president, Branch Rickey,

wanted to turn the Brooklyn Dodgers into a powerhouse team. The scout told Jackie that Branch Rickey wanted to meet him. He was thinking of starting a new Negro League team. "Why only me?" Jackie asked the scout. After all, a new team would need lots of players. Still, he said yes to the scout. Maybe there was something bigger on Branch Rickey's mind. Jackie took the train to Brooklyn, New York. On August 28, 1945, he stepped into Branch Rickey's office. The men stared at each other. Branch Rickey asked, "Do you have a girl?"

"Yes," Jackie said. "I do."

Why did Branch Rickey ask that question? He wanted to know if Jackie was likely to settle down and have a family. To Branch Rickey, that said a lot about a man. "Do you know why you were brought here?" the Dodger president continued. Jackie said he heard there might be a new Negro League team. Then Branch Rickey said no. Jackie was brought to talk about playing for the Brooklyn ball club. "Me?" Jackie said. He couldn't believe it! Rickey had made up the story about a new black team because he didn't want newspaper reporters finding out the Dodgers were interested in a black player. It would make headlines. And Rickey wanted to make changes quietly. His plan was for Jackie to start playing for the Dodgers' minor league team in Montreal. They were called the Royals. Good players in the Royals moved up to the Brooklyn Dodgers. That was Rickey's hope for Jackie.

THE BROOKLYN DODGERS WHERE DID THE NAME FOR BROOKLYN'S MAJOR LEAGUE TEAM COME FROM? IN THE EARLY 1900S, TROLLEY TRACKS RAN IN CRAZY PATTERNS THROUGH THE STREETS OF BROOKLYN. PEOPLE HAD TO "DODGE" THE TROLLEYS AT EVERY TURN. BROOKLYN FANS HAD THEIR OWN NAME FOR THE TEAM, "DEM BUMS." EACH YEAR THE EXCITEMENT WOULD BUILD ... WOULD THE DODGERS WIN THE PENNANT? WOULD THEY WIN THE WORLD SERIES? AND THEN ... DISAPPOINTMENT. ALTOGETHER, THE TEAM WOULD PLAY IN NINE WORLD SERIES. BUT THEY′D WIN ONLY ONCE, IN 1955, WITH THE DREAM TEAM OF PEE WEE REESE AND JACKIE ROBINSON IN THE INFIELD, DUKE