Jackie Robinson to Call Games on ABC-TV

Mar. 17, 1965 - Jackie Robinson, the first Negro to play major league baseball, became the first of his race today to be hired as a baseball commentator by a television network.

ABC announced that Robinson would be an analyst on the broadcasts of major league games it will present each Saturday afternoon beginning Apr. 17. He will be teamed with a play-by-play announcer.

ABC, which will televise three games on a regional basis each week, announced that Leo Durocher also would be an analyst on one of the broadcasts. For a part of the 1948 baseball season, Durocher was manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, the team for which Robinson was playing second base. On the ABC baseball series, however, the two will not be teamed on the same game.

“I am deeply gratified for this opportunity because it not only brings me back to an activity where I got my start, but it also presents a real and important challenge for me,” Robinson said. “The challenge will be met if I can successfully pass along to ABC audiences the knowledge I received in baseball.”

At a news conference in Toots Shor’s restaurant, Robinson explained his new role as a baseball analyst.

“I will point out flaws in the pitching or the infield play,” he said. “And I hope to impart good baseball information to the kids who are watching.”Robinson, who started with the Dodgers in 1947 and retired from baseball in 1956, has appeared on many radio and television programs. Asked about his qualifications for his new assignment, he replied:“All you have to do is know baseball and not be afraid of a microphone. I’ve never been afraid to talk out.”

The play-by-play announcers with whom Robinson will work are Chris Schenkel and Merle Harmon. A third is still to be selected.

Robinson, who is chairman of a Harlem bank and soon will be operating a new insurance business, can fit the broadcasting assignment into his schedule without much difficulty. In the new job, he will encounter lots of coast-to-coast traveling, but he foresees this as no problem. Robinson, a resident of Stamford, Conn., explained: “I can leave home Friday afternoon for the Saturday game and get back Saturday night.”

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