Bill Mardo was a sports writer for The Daily Worker. He only had vision in one eye, which kept him out of World War II, but as a sports writer he could see the future. He called on major league baseball teams to sign black players during and after World War II. He asked fans to write to the team owners urging them to recruit blacks. The pressure on the owners included petitions and picketing.
When Jackie Robinson debuted with the Montreal Royals, Mardo covered his progress and said that black baseball players would do as much “...to arm and educate the American people against this monstrous lie [racism] as do all the pamphlets in the world.”
I don’t know how much Mardo’s work and that of The Daily Worker contributed to Branch Rickey’s decision to sign Robinson. I do know that Mr. Mardo was correct about integrated baseball affecting American society for the better.
If you would like to read the whole obituary, go to <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/sports/baseball/bill-mardo-writer-who-pushed-baseball-to-integrate-dies-at-88.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Bill%20Mardo&st=cse>.
No comments:
Post a Comment