If you know very little about the integration of major league baseball, then this is a book that will give you some information and some insight on what was a slow process after the signing of Jackie Robinson. The book touches on the evolution of the African American baseball player from the signing of Jackie Robinson to today's stars. In addition, the book brings out some of the issues that the players were confronted with years after Jackie's breakthrough.

Stat-packed, gritty, and technical, Rocco Constantino's Beyond Baseball's Color Barrier is a book for baseball fans looking to re-kindle a lost love with the game. As African American participation at the highest level of baseball begins to show a slight recovery in its very steady decline (from 18.7% in 1981 to 6.7% in 2016, now sitting right around 8%), the athleticism and innovation that was brought to the game by these players as the sport integrated is desperately needed today for the game to survive. Constantino does an excellent job of showcasing the incredible ability and agility in game play that made this sport so popular before the turn of the millennium. Wrapping up with a call to action to reinvigorate the game, this book is well-worth the time of any fan of the sport.

As a millennial, I grew up with Kirby Puckett and Ken Griffey Jr. as some of my biggest athletic idols, making me a die-hard Mariners fan decades before I ever moved to Seattle. I remember the day I got my first Hank Aaron baseball card and nothing was ever going to convince me to give it up. Watching Bo Jackson go straight from the MLB season to play NFL in the off-season was just wild. It was hard not to love baseball in that era, but I had missed out on the decades before that brought baseball to that level, and this book really drove that context home. Reading about players like Dock Ellis and Garry Maddox as well as those reaching the end of their careers just as I was getting into the sport like Dave Winfield and Ken Griffey Sr. was fascinating.

But before even getting to that point, MLB was very slow to integrate. While it is often acknowledged how much Jackie Robinson's Dodgers debut did for the Civil Rights Movement, even more than a decade later there were still MLB teams refusing to integrate, and those that had were really only willing to take 1-2 players. Even Robinson's debut came more than seven years after Judge Landis's statement that there was no actual rule preventing teams from signing African Americans. Even the impact of losing hundreds of MLB players to serve in World War II failed to integrate the league (instead, as per usual, benefitting white women instead as the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was formed).

So as we think about the declining role of African Americans in baseball today, Constantino puts forth a handful of considerations. He briefly touches on the rise of Latino and Asian players as a theory that gets floated a lot (as the percentage of white players has stayed below 75%, but it sure hasn't decreased much beyond that even in the wake of significant globalization). He lightly explores the explosion of roster spots taken up by pitchers, a position much less commonly played by African Americans. And he gets into the faster-paced gameplay of football and baseball as well. But most of where he spends his time is talking about the expense of the sport, and that's where he and I start to disagree. Yes, baseball is increasingly a booming business at the youth level and elite (and even select) baseball is just incredibly expensive. Yes, it requires more equipment than basketball and there are fewer NCAA scholarships to be had. All of this is true. However, it is not unique to baseball. On average, travel basketball and elite football both come with higher price tags, although they are more often subsidized. But when he starts talking about "instant gratification culture" leading to kids not be willing to do their time on the minor circuit, I was ready for the book to be done. Do you know how much minor league baseball players get paid?? It's not about having to put in a few more years of work than other sports before you hit big, it's about having to do your time in a league that pays sub-poverty wages that you literally cannot even house yourself on. All to almost certainly never make it to the show at all. You know who can afford to do that? White kids with parents who can continue to subsidize their living expenses. Sheesh. You know what other sport has this same problem? Hockey. How many Black players do you see in hockey? Fix your minor leagues (and your team culture), and find some diversity.

Overall, there is a great deal of history and action in this book and, as a fan of the game, I really enjoyed it. I think it might be a little dense for people who aren't really familiar with baseball stats and won't know off the top of their head what impressive numbers look like. I would have liked to see it more conversational and maybe more profiling of teams or players--the parts where time was spent on that were definitely my favorite. But again, well-worth the read for baseball fans.

Great appreciation to Rowman & Littlefield, Mr. Constantino, and NetGalley for the review copy.

A great read for fans of baseball who want to learn more about the games history in regards to race. Many of baseballs greatest players are included. Really enjoyable for a specific reader I think, it can be slow (not necessarily boring) but definitely have to already be interested in the subject (which we should all be!) and the sport.

An important history of baseball that is often overlooked: the impact of African Americans on the history of baseball. The book raises important questions about the decline in black players, but ultimately left me wanting more. What’s the fix?

As a baseball fan, I am well aware of the effect that Jackie Robinson had by becoming the first African American Baseball Player (in the modern era), I was not aware of every one else who was involved with this that you don't hear much about so I liked reading Rocco Constantino's in depth look at Beyond Baseball's Color Barrier.  He goes back to the beginning touching on guys who played only bit parts, but all of them combined were needed in order to break the color barrier and allow African Americans their rightful place on baseball teams.  It talks about what team was last to segregate and all the conflict around it.  The book also covers the present and future of baseball and was very eye opening for me.  If you are a baseball fan, this is a must read.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.