• Baseball's Great Experiment

  • Jackie Robinson and His Legacy
  • By: Jules Tygiel
  • Narrated by: Rodney Gardiner
  • Length: 17 hrs and 7 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (26 ratings)

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Baseball's Great Experiment  By  cover art

Baseball's Great Experiment

By: Jules Tygiel
Narrated by: Rodney Gardiner
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Publisher's summary

In this gripping account of one of the most important steps in the history of American desegregation, Jules Tygiel tells the story of Jackie Robinson's crossing of baseball's color line. Examining the social and historical context of Robinson's introduction into white organized baseball, both on and off the field, Tygiel also tells the often neglected stories of other African-American players - such as Satchel Paige, Roy Campanella, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron - who helped transform our national pastime into an integrated game. Drawing on dozens of interviews with players and front office executives, contemporary newspaper accounts, and personal papers, Tygiel provides the most telling and insightful account of Jackie Robinson's influence on American baseball and society. The anniversary issue features a new foreword by the author.

©1983, 1997, 2008 Jules Tygiel (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Baseball's Great Experiment

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Short on accurate facts. Politically twisted to

Short on facts. Politically twisted to suit the authors agenda. Try another book about this topic. Reader also mispronounced some names at times.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

what an extraordinary book

This is the best baseball book, and perhaps the best sports book of any variety, that I have ever read. But it is much more than a sports book; it is a fascinating study of race and American history.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Very well done

Great narration and easy to listen to. I was able to pick up where I left off even if it was weeks later.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A Gem

I just do not have the adjectives to describe how good this book is.
1. It is a must for all baseball fans
2.It describes Jackie Robinson’s journey through the minor-leagues and his breakthrough first year in the majors in great detail
3. It is truly like going back in time to another place the 1940’s and seeing what life was like for black people in particular.
4. We get to learn about the Negro Leagues and some of the mythic figures we don’t hear enough about like Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson.
5.We get to learn about other pioneers who broke the color barrier like former Cleveland Indian( Now the team is known as the Cleveland Gaurdians..) Larry Doby the first man to break the color barrier in the American League. This book is an Evergreen. For a baseball fan to overlook or miss this volume is a crime.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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Don’t bother unless you’re a baseball history fanatic

The Jackie Robinson story is a good one, but this isn’t that story. It’s extremely dull. The author does not paint any images in the readers heads. It’s basically a book full of 1940’s baseball facts. The characters are weak. The author spends way too much time discussing scores of minor league teams that have no relevancy to Jackie Robinson. This book was meant for baseball fanatics that are very interested in the sport’s history, not for curious readers.

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