Invisible Men
Hist 2516, 9:00
Dr. Babicz
October 18, 2013
Invisible Men
The Negro Leagues were one of the most important and influential movements to happen in baseball history. Without these ‘Invisible Men’, who knows where baseball’s racial standpoint with not only African American’s, but others such as Cuban, Dominican, and South American players, would be in the Major Leagues. Throughout the book, one pressing theme stays from beginning to end: Segregation.
The Negro Leagues flourished from 1920 to 1951, with the first all-pro African American team actually being formed in 1885.1 From that time period, a handful of players made their way to stardom. Of those players, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Jackie Robison among others had a monumental impact on the game. However, the separation of the Major Leagues and the Negro Leagues painted a picture of America during the late 40’s and early 50’s. A term known as separate but equal.
Invisible Men by Donn Rogosin opens with baseball in the 1920’s. A man by the name of Rube Foster creates a league for African American’s known as The Negro Leagues. The common ground that the two leagues would share was baseball. Rogosin calls The Negro Leagues a more “thoughtful” league. A more thoughtful league meant that the game utilized strategy and emphasizing speed rather than brawn and muscling up on homeruns like its counterpart in the Major League. Rogosin hints to the idea of segregation in this chapter. In America the Jim Crowe Laws were utilized to keep whites and colors separated. Separate but equal became the popular term, usually awarding whites with new establishments such as schools and bathrooms, while colors were stuck with the aged facilities. The two tie together while the establishments were the same (baseball), the insides of them (strategy) were completely different.
Although Rogosin didn’t have a firsthand point of view of The Negro Leagues, in Invisible Men he depicts some of the events as if he were in the
Dr. Babicz
October 18, 2013
Invisible Men
The Negro Leagues were one of the most important and influential movements to happen in baseball history. Without these ‘Invisible Men’, who knows where baseball’s racial standpoint with not only African American’s, but others such as Cuban, Dominican, and South American players, would be in the Major Leagues. Throughout the book, one pressing theme stays from beginning to end: Segregation.
The Negro Leagues flourished from 1920 to 1951, with the first all-pro African American team actually being formed in 1885.1 From that time period, a handful of players made their way to stardom. Of those players, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Jackie Robison among others had a monumental impact on the game. However, the separation of the Major Leagues and the Negro Leagues painted a picture of America during the late 40’s and early 50’s. A term known as separate but equal.
Invisible Men by Donn Rogosin opens with baseball in the 1920’s. A man by the name of Rube Foster creates a league for African American’s known as The Negro Leagues. The common ground that the two leagues would share was baseball. Rogosin calls The Negro Leagues a more “thoughtful” league. A more thoughtful league meant that the game utilized strategy and emphasizing speed rather than brawn and muscling up on homeruns like its counterpart in the Major League. Rogosin hints to the idea of segregation in this chapter. In America the Jim Crowe Laws were utilized to keep whites and colors separated. Separate but equal became the popular term, usually awarding whites with new establishments such as schools and bathrooms, while colors were stuck with the aged facilities. The two tie together while the establishments were the same (baseball), the insides of them (strategy) were completely different.
Although Rogosin didn’t have a firsthand point of view of The Negro Leagues, in Invisible Men he depicts some of the events as if he were in the