Table Of Content“Baseball endures not only because of the heroics of a Babe Ruth or a Shohei Ohtani but also
because of its lesser-known heroes and heroines—those in the game who fought against its
unjust status quo, be it unfair labor practices or the exclusion of people of color, women, and
LGBTQs. Baseball Rebels digs deep into history to honor the stories of the men and women
who, often at great sacrifice, fought to forge a better path for the national pastime.”
—Jean Hastings Ardell, author of Breaking Into Baseball and coauthor (with Ila Jane
Borders) of Making My Pitch: A Woman’s Baseball Odyssey
“A rich, informative account of individuals associated with professional baseball—players,
managers, umpires, executives, union organizers—who voiced dissenting, nonconformist
views. As a game hidebound by tradition, proud of its conservatism, and draped in the
American flag, these rebels brought various perspectives of social justice to a game that was
often recalcitrant to reform and resistant to revolution. A necessary read for anyone inter-
ested in baseball for something more than stats and nostalgia.”
—Gerald Early, author of A Level Playing Field: African American Athletes and the Republic of
Sports
“You do not have to be a baseball fan to appreciate Baseball Rebels. Providing yet more evi-
dence of the ways baseball mirrors the evolution of American society, Dreier and Elias have
crafted a well-researched and enlightening analysis of efforts to challenge the status quo in
the generally conservative world of professional baseball. Their lineup includes prominent
innovators such as Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey as well as lesser-known figures, men
and women, who have dared to confront issues of inequity within the national pastime and
society.”
—Lawrence Baldassaro, author of Tony Lazzeri: Yankees Legend and Baseball Pioneer
“Baseball players are not particularly known for their political activism, but that may be about
to change. In Baseball Rebels, seasoned baseball historians Peter Dreier and Robert Elias have
compiled the little-known and untold stories of the reformers, radicals, and nonconformists
in baseball and their ties to the broader progressive movements of their times. The authors
reveal the personal stories of players who chose to push back against injustice and discrimi-
nation. There is something here for every fan and student of the game: compelling baseball
stories, new material about fascinating little-known players, and thoughtful consideration of
the role baseball continues to play in American life.”
—Marty Lurie, creator of AmericanInnings.org and host of the San Francisco Giants’ KNBR
680 radio program Talking Baseball
“You need to read Baseball Rebels because it tells a story about baseball you probably don’t
know but should. Baseball is better because of the people in this book—Octavius Catto,
Sam Nahem, ‘Doc’ Sykes, ‘Mudcat’ Grant, George Gmelch, Toni Stone, Ila Borders, Sean
Doolittle, and Terry Cannon—and so is America.”
—Chris Lamb, author of Conspiracy of Silence and Stolen Dreams
“Dreier and Elias have given us the most comprehensive history to date of social activism in
professional baseball. But Baseball Rebels is not just a landmark study backed by impressive
research. It’s also a riveting read full of stories, some hopeful, others dismal, that explode the
standard narrative that baseball is a conservative sport. Essential reading for baseball and
history enthusiasts.”
—Michael G. Long, editor of 42 Today: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy
“In Baseball Rebels Dreier and Elias tell the tales of the men and women who in ways both
blunt and subtle pushed back against baseball dogma by demonstrating time and again that
the perceived wisdom isn’t the only wisdom. And often it isn’t even wisdom at all. Through
their portrayals of rebels both well-known and little known, they shed valuable light on how
baseball is America after all, although not quite the way those who run things would have
you believe.”
—Mitchell Nathanson, author of A People’s History of Baseball and God Almighty Hisself: The
Life and Legacy of Dick Allen
“Though Jackie Robinson’s leap across the color line in 1947 was the catalyst to change
on and off the field, Major League Baseball has invariably resisted those objecting to its
entrenched conservative and hierarchical ways. Yet, as Peter Dreier and Robert Elias explain,
the game has long had its rebels—women and men willing to challenge the status quo. Like
E. P. Thompson in The Making of the English Working Class, Baseball Rebels seeks to rescue
its subjects ‘from the enormous condescension of posterity.’ At a moment when athletes and
those who care about sport are raising their voices, this history is a compelling reminder to
look to the past and draw strength from those who came before us.”
—Rob Ruck, author of Raceball: How the Major Leagues Colonized the Black and Latin Game
BaseBall ReBels
BaseBall ReBels
The Players, People, and Social
Movements That Shook Up the
Game and Changed America
Peter Dreier and Robert Elias
Foreword by Dave Zirin
univeRsity of neBRaska pRess | lincoln
© 2022 by Peter Dreier and Robert Elias
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
The University of Nebraska Press is part of a land-grant institution
with campuses and programs on the past, present, and future
homelands of the Pawnee, Ponca, Otoe-Missouria, Omaha,
Dakota, Lakota, Kaw, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Peoples, as well as
those of the relocated Ho-Chunk, Sac and Fox, and Iowa Peoples.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Dreier, Peter, 1948–, author. | Elias, Robert, 1950–,
author. | Zirin, Dave, author of foreword.
Title: Baseball rebels: the players, people, and social movements
that shook up the game and changed America / Peter
Dreier and Robert Elias; foreword by Dave Zirin. Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2021038179
isbn 9781496217776 (Hardback: acid-free paper)
isbn 9781496231765 (ePub)
isbn 9781496231772 (pdf)
Subjects: lcsh: Baseball—Political aspects—United States. |
Baseball—Social aspects—United States. | Discrimination in
sports—United States. | Racism in sports—United States. |
Social change—United States—History—20th century. |
Social justice—United States—History—20th century. |
bisac: Sports & Recreation / Baseball / History | Social
Science / Discrimination
Classification: lcc gv863.a1 d75 2022 | ddc 796.3570973—dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021038179
This book is set in Arno by TIPS Technical Publishing, Inc.
To the memory of Terry Cannon,
Jackie Robinson, Bill Veeck, Curt Flood,
and Helen Callaghan Candaele St. Aubin.
May their lives be an inspiration.
contents
List of Illustrations ix
Foreword by Dave Zirin xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
part 1
Resisting Racism
1. Battling Jim Crow 7
2. Building Black Institutions 21
3. Before Jackie Robinson 39
4. Crossing the Color Line 69
5. Defending Civil Rights 103
part 2
Challenging Sexism
and Homophobia
6. Women in Baseball 157
7. Gay Men in Baseball 207
part 3
Today’s Activists and
an Agenda for Change
8. Modern-Day Rebels 235
9. Baseball Justice:
An Unfinished Agenda 261
Notes 285
Bibliography 317
Index 347
