Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson appears in How we got free agents in baseball as the retired baseball player who testified for [[CurtFlood|Curt Flood]] when active players were afraid to do so. The source says Robinson argued that the [[BaseballReserveClause|reserve clause]] was one-sided in favor of owners and should be changed so players had more control over their destiny.

The episode uses Robinson’s testimony to show how race, public legitimacy, and labor control were intertwined. Press coverage was warmer when Robinson made the argument than when Flood did, which makes Robinson part of the source’s [[PublicOpinionLitigationStrategy|public-opinion strategy]] branch.

Connections

• Curt Flood, Arthur Goldberg, Major League Baseball, and [[FloodVKuhn|Flood v. Kuhn]] - source case.
• Baseball Reserve Clause, Sports Player Autonomy, and Public Opinion Litigation Strategy - concepts supported by his testimony.