I Never Had It Made

“Money is America’s God, and business people can dig black power if it coincides with green power.” 

In his preface, Robinson is reflecting on his rookie season and breaking baseball’s color barrier, making the argument that black fans passing through turnstiles in huge numbers played a pivotal role in the success of Rickey’s noble experiment of integration. Robinson’s blunt point here is that, within big businesses such as baseball club ownership, money trumps racism. 

“They hadn’t changed because they liked me any better; they had changed because I could help fill their wallets.” 

In this passage, Robinson is referring to some teammates who were dead set against him joining the Dodgers. They finally warmed up to him when they realized how good he was. As pennant-winning and World Series-winning teams receive bonus pay, his Dodgers teammates stood to make more money if the team was a winner. 

“When I look back at what I had to go through in black baseball, I can only marvel at the many black players who stuck it out for years in the Jim Crow leagues because they had nowhere else to go.” 

Robinson discusses his lone season in the Negro leagues by pointing out how grueling the travel was and how lackluster the organization of clubs and leagues were. The fact that, regardless of talent, those players continued on because they had no other option to play baseball professionally is a testament to their desire.