The Makings of Heroes: How the 1943 Black Phillies Broke Baseball's Color Line - Paperback

by Alywn Featherston (Author)

Flamboyant baseball owner Bill Veeck always claimed that he came very close to integrating baseball in 1943 -- four years before Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947. Veeck's scheme was to buy the Philadelphia Phillies and stock the worst team in baseball with stars from the Negro League. His plan failed, but what if it had succeeded? This alternate history novel proposes that Veeck's plan was allowed to play out. It creates a whole new dynamic for baseball's integration -- not just one lone hero, but a team of black stars. The story has firm historical foundation as real historical characters perform in a setting that is drawn from the real 1943 baseball season. Familiar figures such as Veeck, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis and Babe Ruth all play significant roles. The result is a dramatic pennant race -- and an equally dramatic human story.

Author Biography

Alwyn Featherston has been a professional sports writer for more than 40 years. While his primary focus has been college basketball, Featherston has also been an avid baseball fan who was lucky enough to cover the rebirth of the famous Durham Bulls in 1980. He has met and interviewed several of the old Negro League stars that populate his book. Featherston, a graduate of Duke University, is the author of three previous books - two focused on basketball in North Carolina and a third about the World War II Battle of Mortain. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.