Seventy years ago, Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey decided to bring a young player up to the majors from one of their farm teams. However, one thing made this unprecedented: the Montreal Monarchs second baseman in question was African-American. Approval to transfer Jackie Robinson to the Dodgers could only come from the commissioner of Major League Baseball, former U.S. Senator, Kentucky Governor, and Henderson county native, A.B. "Happy" Chandler.
While at Murray State last month to speak to Dr. Duane Bolin's sports history class, Chandler's grandson, former U.S. Representative and current Kentucky Humanities Council Executive Director Ben Chandler, stopped by to speak with Todd Hatton about this historic choice.
Chandler describes his grandfather as a life-long sports fan, from captaining the Transylvania football, basketball, and baseball teams, to leading Rupp Arena crowds in renditions of "My Old Kentucky Home" before University of Kentucky home games.
"Happy" Chandler was Kentucky's junior U.S. Senator when Major League Baseball owners offered him the leadership position. Ben Chandler says his grandfather was happy to take the job both because of his great love of the national pastime and because it meant a significant raise in pay.
Ben Chandler says his grandfather's experiences in the U.S. Senate's military affairs committee led to his conclusion that there was no justice in African-Americans fighting and dying in World War II's European and Pacific theaters, only to be denied the chance to play in the MLB because of the color of their skin. Chandler adds that his independent nature meant that when Branch Rickey approached him about the Robinson transfer, he found "Happy" very receptive.
The elder Chandler quickly became known as "The Players' Commissioner" for his institution of pension benefits for players and umpires and developed a reputation of being his own man. Ben Chandler says Major League Baseball's integration, achieved years prior to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, was a unique and historic achievement.
