Red Wing Rewind: Jackie Robinson at Red Wing Stadium by Bill Flynn April 2006 It was 60 years ago this summer when Jackie Robinson played his only season in the International League. Months earlier- in October of 1945- the Brooklyn Dodgers rocked the sports world by announcing the signing of the Negro Leagues star for their Triple-A farm club, the Montreal Royals. Robinson would receive a salary of $600 per month. Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey warned Robinson of the oncoming racial situations, the bean balls, the spiking and the abuse that Roberson would be facing in the lily white organized baseball. Rickey challenged Robinson not to fight back, to turn the other cheek and let his baseball talents do the arguing. "Mr. Rickey told him he couldn't answer back for three years," recalled radio announcer Red Barber, at the microphone for all of Jackie's ten years with the Dodgers. "Greater than his physical attributes on the field was his spiritual control of himself. There were a lot of people who felt he shouldn't be there. But he began to play. They had to treat him fairly because he was the greatest gate attraction since Babe Ruth. He was tremendous." The Dodgers farm team based in Montreal was an ideal location to begin this so-called "noble experiment." The Canadians did not carry many of the racial biases which existed through various regions of the United States, especially in the South. Trouble began in spring training. Three games in Jacksonville, Florida were cancelled after officials announced that Negroes and whites were not allowed to complete on city- owned fields. Games in Richmond, Virginia and Savannah, Georgia also were called off. And in Sanford, Florida, the local chief of police interrupted the game in the third inning, ordering Robinson from the field. Still, on April 18, 1946 before more than 25,000 fans, 27-year old Jackie Robinson made his IL debut in Jersey City as Montreal took on the Giants. In his second at-bat Robinson socked a three-run homer, leading to a four-for-five day with four RBI and two stolen bases. He also scored four times- twice jogging home when he distracted the pitcher into committing a balk. This "experiment" had suddenly taken on new meaning. Within the eight International League cities, Rochester fans would get a look at Robinson last. Rainy weather shortened Montreal's first visit to Rochester to a two-game series- a Memorial Day doubleheader at Red Wing Stadium. Over 14,000 fans jammed into the ballpark- one of the biggest crowds in Wings history, including "hundreds of Negro fans" according to the Democrat and Chronicle. Concessions sold out before game two. Unfortunately, Jackie did not play in either game because of a severe charley horse suffered in the series before, in Buffalo. From newspaper and eye witness accounts, there were no outbursts but plain-clothed policemen roamed the stands just in case. Red Wings Hall of Famer George Beahon was a sports writer for the Democrat and Chronicle in 1946. He says by the time Robinson arrived in Rochester, there wasn't many writers voting against Jackie playing in the big leagues. "Most of them agreed that this guy was one of those 'can't miss' talents," Beahon says. "And I would have been very surprised if he had not made it. If he had been playing his first game here in Triple-A for opening day, I think you would have seen a couple of pages devoted to it in the morning and afternoon papers. But he really wasn't besieged with interviews. He was just a good ballplayer, a rookie with great talent. If the guy had gone into football today, he would he'd be a first-round draft pick. He was a great football player- an All-American- and a track star." Life-long Wings fan and current Red Wings Board of Directors member Dorothy Fox saw Robinson play in both Montreal and Rochester. "There was a feeling that people had to see him," she remembers. "I wouldn't say it was a sideshow but it was hard for a lot of fans to accept that there were others than whites who could play this game. You could see by his movements... that Jackie Robinson knew where he was headed and he was going to make it. And he wasn't going to let anybody stand in his way. He was very aggressive at the plate.. And in the field and he would give absolutely no account to anyone when he was on base. When he wanted to steal, that base was his." Throughout 1946, Robinson got more than his share of knockdown pitches, vicious bench-jockeying and verbal blasts from he stands. He received the most abuse in Baltimore and later during the Little World Series, in Louisville. But the city of Syracuse may have gotten a bad rap. In Robinson's autobiography, "I Never Had it Made" and reported in movies, various books and throughout the internet, Syracuse's MacArthur Stadium is labeled as the site of an infamous racial incident involving Robinson. Allegedly, a Syracuse Chiefs player threw a black cat on the field and yelled "Hey, Jackie, here's your cousin!" while Robinson was in the on-deck circle. Jackie reports in his autobiography that time was called so the cat could be chased down... and that Robinson immediately got on base, scored, then jeered back at the Chiefs dugout. But Syracuse baseball historian Ron Gersbacher, who has spent decades researching the supposed incident, says it simply never occurred- at least not in Syracuse. "With several southern ballplayers on the Chiefs roster, Syracuse was not a popular place to play for Robinson," Gersbacher admits. "But an incident like a cat on the field where an umpire calls time out- that's something that would be reported in the media. But nothing was mentioned in the newspapers." Gersbacher has done research at the Baseball Hall of Fame library, and interviewed players and fans at the game in question- none of whom can testify to the validity of the "black cat" incident. "To this day," he says "I can find nobody- a fan, a player, a manager, scorekeepers- who can tell me that it happened." 86-year old Claude "Red" Parton, the Chiefs public address announcer in 1946 also rejects the story. He was known for keeping a very detailed scorebook- including any game oddities- and sat directly behind home plate in the press box, with an excellent view of the field. No mention of any disturbance can be found in his scoring involving Montreal game that season. "I was never aware of it," Parton recalled earlier this year. "As far as I'm concerned, it just ever happened." The 1946 Royals romped to the International League pennant by 18 and a half games, clinching the flag in Rochester on August 25th with a 4-2 win. The Royals took 13 of 22 games from the Wings that year including blowouts of 15-5, 14-5 and 12-0. Rochester's 172,125 attendance more than doubled their count from '45 but the club fell to seventh place. Montreal (100-54) went on to defeat the Louisville Colonels in the Little World Series and the Royals set an International League record by nearly drawing one-million fans. Robinson was the International League 's top hitter in 1946 at .349. He also led the league in fielding (.985) and in runs scored (113). The first time Jackie got on base against Rochester he was picked off, May 22nd in Montreal. And throughout the 1946 season Red Wings pitchers "held" Robinson to a .280 average (14-50). Jackie was in the lineup for only four of the eleven Montreal games played at Red Wing Stadium, where he had two oh-fers and hit just .118 (2 for 17: a bloop single and beat out a bunt). In games played at Montreal, Robinson hit .364 (12-33) against Rochester hurlers. Robinson seems to have had reasons for his unproductive visits to Norton Street, as he was injured or coming off injuries every time Montreal came into Rochester. Twice, Jackie was banged up in Buffalo, the stop before Rochester on the schedule. According to newspaper accounts he had "limped through fielding practice" and was "still limping" when he finally made his Rochester, New York debut on July 16th. In that game before 2,463 fans, Robinson went 0-4, grounding out four times. During the Sunday August 25th doubleheader in Rochester, Jackie went 1-9 but apparently played through an unspecified injury. He missed the next game, again in Rochester, because he was being "x-rayed for two new bruises Sunday" the D&C reported. In the field, 1946 Royals-Wings box scores show a flawless Robinson in the 13 games he played versus Rochester. Without error, he handled 58 chances and helped turn 9 double plays. Jackie Robinson graduated to Brooklyn in 1947, won Rookie of the Year honors and helped lead Brooklyn to six pennants and a World Series, hitting .311 through a decade of service. He was the first black to be elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame, in 1962. "My main ambition" Robinson summed up, "Was to get along well-enough with whoever I was playing with so that they would realize that- because I was colored and they were white- that we could still play together. I think that was my main ambition, to break down that barrier... not so much for me to go to the major leagues. I just wanted somebody to do it. I didn't care who it was."