{"product_id":"opening-day-the-story-of-jackie-robinsons-first-season-9780743294614","title":"Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis bestselling account of the most important season in baseball history, 1947, tells the dramatic story of how Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and changed baseball forever.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eApril 15, 1947, marked the most important opening day in baseball history. When Jackie Robinson stepped onto the diamond that afternoon at Ebbets Field, he became the first black man to break into major-league baseball in the twentieth century. World War II had just ended. Democracy had triumphed. Now Americans were beginning to press for justice on the home front--and Robinson had a chance to lead the way. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eOpening Day\u003c\/i\u003e, Jonathan Eig tells the true story behind the national pastime's most sacred myth. He offers new insights into events of sixty years ago and punctures some familiar legends. Was it true that the St. Louis Cardinals plotted to boycott their first home game against the Brooklyn Dodgers? Was Pee Wee Reese really Robinson's closest ally on the team? Was Dixie Walker his greatest foe? How did Robinson handle the extraordinary stress of being the only black man in baseball and still manage to perform so well on the field? \u003ci\u003eOpening Day\u003c\/i\u003e is also the story of a team of underdogs that came together against tremendous odds to capture the pennant. Facing the powerful New York Yankees, Robinson and the Dodgers battled to the seventh game in one of the most thrilling World Series competitions of all time. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing on interviews with surviving players, sportswriters, and eyewitnesses, as well as newly discovered material from archives around the country, Jonathan Eig presents a fresh portrait of a ferocious competitor who embodied integration's promise and helped launch the modern civil-rights era. Full of new details and thrilling action, \u003ci\u003eOpening Day\u003c\/i\u003e brings to life baseball's ultimate story.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJonathan Eig is a former senior special writer for \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e. He is the author of several books, including two highly acclaimed bestsellers, \u003ci\u003eLuckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eOpening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season. \u003c\/i\u003eVisit him at JonathanEig.com.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50631631765778,"sku":"9780743294614","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3666898f-414a-466c-8418-80864ce68d15.jpg?v=1732778372","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/opening-day-the-story-of-jackie-robinsons-first-season-9780743294614","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}