Handshake helped close the race gap

By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Major League Baseball celebrated "Jackie Robinson Day" Saturday, but is minor league baseball poised today to celebrate his professional diamond debut?
Robinson's No. 42 was retired throughout the league by Commissioner Bud Selig during ceremonies at Shea Stadium on April 15, 1997. At that time the commissioner declared that day to be an annual "Jackie Robinson Day" celebration throughout the majors.
However, if it weren't for the success that Robinson enjoyed during the 1946 season, his first in professional baseball as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers' top farm team, the Montreal Royals, then Branch Rickey's dream of Robinson becoming the first player of color in the major leagues might not have occurred for quite some time.
On April 18, 1946, the Royals played the New York Giants' top farm team, Jersey City, at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, N.J.
In front of 25,000 fans, Robinson grounded out his first time up but showed in his second at-bat why he was such a special player.
He smashed a home run over the 335-foot marker in the outfield; a shot that temporarily silenced any doubts the critics might have had about his ability to hit professional pitching.
On-deck greeter
In the on-deck circle that day and walking to home plate to greet Robinson after his clout was none other than Youngstown's George "Shotgun" Shuba.
A seven-year major league veteran (all with the Dodgers), Shuba has always considered himself the fortunate one to be able to greet Robinson at home plate that day.
At the time he never realized the magnitude of that handshake, or how the gesture of offering his hand in a congratulatory manner would captivate an entire nation.
"To me, Jackie was like all the other guys; a player who came ready to play each and every day," sad Shuba. "We knew he would be a good player, but nobody on the team, including me, could have predicted just how good he would eventually become."
"What are the odds of a guy who was playing for the Cisco Club on the local sandlots just three years earlier figuring so prominently in one the most talked about photos of all of sport."
The photo, taken as Jackie was nearing home plate, shows elation on the face of Robinson as he approached Shuba's outstretched hand, a photo that appeared the following day in papers nationwide.
Pressure to perform
Shuba has always maintained that 1946 was more important than 1947 for several reasons.
"Jackie was a very strong man, someone with a strong will and constitution. Had he failed to perform either at the plate or in the field, then this so-called experiment might have been put on hold," said Shuba. "He led the [International League] that year with a .349 average and everyone felt that was such an outstanding accomplishment because of the stress under which he played."
"The entire situation with Jackie was no slipshod arrangement. He was the best competitor that I ever saw in both life and on the ball field," said Shuba.
"I never saw fear in his eyes nor did I ever see him depressed. His wife Rachel was always there as his support system and that was very important.
"He was always respected by his peers for what he accomplished under tremendous pressure. It was an undue pressure that nobody, anywhere, should have to endure, yet he accepted the challenge and performed admirably."
Big part of victory
Robinson finished 4-for-5 that day, getting three singles. He also stole two bases, scored four times, made the pitcher balk and added four RBIs, all of which added up to a 14-1 victory for the Royals.
In the second game the following day, Robinson had another hit and stole two more bases, but it was Shuba who stole the headlines by belting three homers and scoring four runs in a 9-1 Montreal victory.
Shuba played just the first 20 games that season for the Royals and despite hitting seven home runs, which led the International League, he was shipped down to Mobile of the Southern Association.
The Dodgers trained in Cuba the following spring and despite what he felt was an excellent preseason, Shuba found himself back in Mobile while Robinson latched on with the Dodgers.
"Jackie died way too young," said Shuba. "He was only 53 years old, suffered from diabetes which was robbing him of his sight and then had a heart attack. I'm truly the lucky one after all these years to still be around to talk about the significance of that day."
Right thing to do
"The handshake was the right thing to do back then, and I would do it all over again if given the same opportunity and under the same circumstances," said Shuba.
"I could care less what color he was. He could have been Technicolor for all I cared because he was my teammate and we were there for one reason -- to win a game. The team had no problem whatsoever in accepting Robinson.
"If the truth be told he was our best player on the team, hands down."