Sports

Ben Nelson Grace O'Donnell Julia Primeau Julia Anastos


 * Sports:** As today, people in the Fifties loved sports. More free time led to greater participation in athletic activities for the average person. This added large numbers of fans to all sports. Athletes were a diverse group of people and segregation was not a problem. Popularity was not based on social status, but on the ability of one person in the sport. Some popular sports in the Fifties included baseball, basketball, football and more. As television became more and more popular stations started to broadcast college and professional sports. This quenched the thirst of sports for many Americans.

Everyone was busy and bustling around. Families were settling down into suburbs and enjoying what the 1950’s had to offer. This wasn’t a time of struggle for most Americans, the war was over and it was time to move on and rebuild. Baseball, was one event that changed peoples past time. After the color lines were broken by Jackie Robinson, baseball started to become an exciting sport to watch. The athleticism that was brought up from the Negro Leagues was astounding to many and it improved baseball a ton. Who wouldn’t want to go to an atmosphere full of competition, food, and just all around fun? Unlike today, when you are trying to go to a Red Sox game and it costs a small fortune, baseball tickets in the 1950s only sold for around $20-$25. People were excited and longed for a trip to the local ball parks, making baseball a recognizable American sport across the nation.
 * Baseball:**

====[|Jackie Robinson:] Was a african american baseball player that was drafted to play on the a white team, the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. He broke the color line, all because of the Dodgers general manager [|Branch Ricky]. On April 10, 1947, Branch Ricky announced that he would buy Jackie to play on his team. For Jackie Robinson to get this far he had to do many things and had to have many traits to do so. An example of this is that he was a very confident person. He also had to have the will not to fight back at the white players because they were bound to fight with him.====

======== ====When Jackie headed up to Philadelphia with his team he was struck with harsh words and violent behaviors that were enforced by the fans and players. Ben Chapman was the Phillies coach that had a big dislike towards Robinson and he motivated his players to yell hateful things to him as he stepped onto the field. People cut him with their spikes and==== ====he had many pitches thrown at his head in several situations. Robinson's teammates were at first cold to the idea of having an African American player on their team but when they saw how people were treating him, they stood up for him. The Dodger's team was growing and so were the players. At the end of the year Jackie Robinson was named rookie of the season, first in the league in stolen bases and second in runs scored. He was a baseball player that shaped the league and nation, and he will always be remembered for breaking the color lines.====

[|Jackie Robison Picture]
[|Yogi Berra] Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra was born on May 12, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up there, and later, joined the Navy at 18. He was an active participant in World War II, he participated in D-Day, was stationed in Northern Africa, and Italy, and was eventually stationed back home in the U.S.A. After the war, he started playing baseball again. In 1946, he moved up from the minor leagues, to be on the Yankees as a platoon catcher. Yogi almost never struck out, despite his wild swing. In 1950, out of 597 at bats, he only struck out 12 times. Yogi went on to later become a fifteen-time All Star, holding numerous World Series records, and win the American League MVP three times. He then became a manager for numerous teams, and is one of few managers who have won pennants in both American League, and the National League. Yogi retired in 1992, with many years of experience as a baseball hero in his pocket. In 1972, he was elected to the baseball hall of fame, and is still living happily at the age of 84.

http://www.mickeymantle.com/bio.htm

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To get more information go to the link at the bottom of the picture. **Mickey Mantle-** Born on October 20, 1931 in Spavinaw, Oklahoma. Mickey’s father always wanted his son to grow up to become a baseball player so after moving to Commerce, they practiced everyday when his dad came home from work. He started out as a catcher and by 15 he was playing for the Baxter Springs Whiz Kids in a semi-pro league that offered up to 21 years of age. Although Mickey was exceptional at baseball he was also very skillful at football and basketball. It was in football that he almost suffered from a fatal injury. He was kicked in the shin and suffered from osteomyelitis. But with the luck of Pencillin Mickey wouldn’t have to result to an amputation. Tom Greenwade spotted Mantle when playing in the Whiz Kids league. He was a Yankee’s scout and when Mantle hit two home runs he knew he belonged in baseball. He was signed for $140/month and a $1,150 signing bonus. After going through many different teams and levels, Mickey found himself wearing the #6 jersey for the New York Yankees. And than the #7 which would go down in history. In 1956 Mickey had his greatest year when he won the Triple Crown, Male Athlete of the Year, and American League MVP, and Player of the Year,batting at a .353 average. Deducted to the Hall of Fame in 1974 Mickey will always be known as a hero to the Yankees and to the game of baseball.=====

In the 1950’s basketball took off as a sport. The color barrier was broken with [|Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton,] as the first to sign a contract with a professional team, [|Chuck Cooper], who was the first black player to be drafted, and Earl Lloyd, as the first black player to ever actually play in an NBA game. With the new interest people were taking in the sport, the leagues expanded. Instead of having one 17 team league, they made it so there was two 11 team leagues, with 22 teams in all. Basketball became a fun game to play, and to watch in this time period.
 * Basketball:**

Earl Lloyd Earl was one of the first black players to ever play in the National Basketball Association, ( NBA ). Lloyd, known for his exceptional defense, played at West Virginia State and helped them become the only team in 1947 - 48 season to go undefeated. He also helped them to two CIAA conference and Tournament Championships. He was named All-American twice, and All-Conference three times. and was selected by the Washington Capitols in the 9th round of the 1950 draft. Lloyd became the first African-American to ever play in an in a NBA game on October 31, 1950. Later nicknamed, “The Big Cat,” Earl played in 560 games in nine seasons in the NBA. Lloyd then went on to retire in 1960, with the 43rd most points scored, 4,682 points in all. In 2003 he was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame and will be remembered as an inspiration to many at 82 years of age today.

Chuck Cooper Also claiming to be one of the first African American players in the NBA, Chuck Cooper was the first African American player to be drafted in 1950. Cooper was born in Pittsburgh of 1926. In high school, he was an athletic star, and in college he played for two NCAA teams, Duquense University, and West Virginia State College. He went on to be signed by the Boston Celtic’s coach, Red Auerbach, and played okay throughout the rest of his career. Some may say he was a bit above average, but most agree that the reason he is remembered is because he was one of the first African American players to participate in the league. All in all, he played for three professional teams, ( Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Hawks, Fort Wayne Pistons, ) and scored 2,725 points in his six year career.

Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton Being mostly remembered for breaking the color barrier as the first African American player to sign a contract with an NBA team. Nat, born in Little Rock, Arkansas of 1922, went to high school in Chicago, where he learned to play basketball. After, he went to Xavier University of Louisiana, and then served for the United States Army for three years, fighting in World War II in Europe. After the war, he joined an all black professional team, and then became a member of the Harlem Globe Trotters. While being known by most because of his basketball skills, Clifton was also a great baseball player too! In the 1949 off-season he played on a Negro League baseball team. In 1950, he debuted on the New York Knicks, where he played well for the team at six-foot-eight. In his eight seasons, he made the 1957 All-Star team, and played very well as the oldest person to ever make the All-Star team at 34. After retiring at the end of the 1957 season, he went on to play a bit more baseball in the Negro leagues, but came back out of retirement to play in the American Basketball League. But when the league folded the next year, he retired for good. Clifton was very charitable and participated a lot in his community. He died in 1990, and was a great contributor to our country and our basketball history.

John L. Sullivan was the big spark for boxing in the 1940s. He was a legendary boxer that changed and set the competition level way up high. The boxing league was mostly made up of the lower/poor class, which consisted of Italians, Irish, African Americans and poor whites. Many of the famous and most popular matches were held in Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium. Ezzard Charles and Joe Louis were among the popular players at the time. Many people could watch boxing matches on their tv or actually attend a game. When more people started to watch Gillette Friday Night Fights on their tv it created problems throughout the industry, because more people were at home. Boxing was a very popular sport and made $2,000,000 per year of activity. As the jet airplane era started to take off in 1958 boxing became even more popular and competitive because they could fight with other countries. Many American boxers became legends during this time and will always be memorable. Joe Louis (left) vs. Ezzard Charles (left) http://www.uc.edu/news/view.asp?infoID=4531&photo=image2
 * Boxing:**


 * Ezzard Charles-** After blowing away people when beating Hall of Famers, such as Charley Burley and Teddy Yarosz, Ezzard Charles stepped into the lime light of boxing. He was an African American and competed in many heavyweight championships, winning several. He started out in the Light heavyweight and became one of the greatest LHW fighters and again, beat lots of Hall of Famers. At a young age in high school, Charles was always known as a good fighter. In his early years he spent time in the U.S. military in WW2 from 1945-1945. Although Charles hit his best points in his career after the war, he also experienced a traumatic experience that almost stopped him from fighting. He fought against Sam Baroudi and due to the injuries that Baroudi got from Charles’ hits, he died. Charles knew that he loved to fight and he started to be more careful after, trying to actually hurt his opponents. Shockingly Charles beat Joe Louis for the World Heavyweight Championship leaving Louis to his first loss since 1938. In 1951 Charles lost a title to Joe Walcott. But he bounced back and won the Heavyweight title in 1954 against Rocky Marciano. Outside of boxing Charles was an amazing double bass player and he preformed lots of jazz in in 1940s and 50s. Unfortunately, Charles came down with Lou Gehrig’s Disease but had to keep fighting because of financial difficulties. When he retired his disease grew worse and worse causing him to die in 1975. Although he was never forgotten. In 1990 he was elected into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.


 * Football-** . As most of us know football today if you took a look at it in the 50's than you might be blown away! There were so many more rules that were at times unnecessary to the game that was being played. For example if one player was taken out of the game they could not return into the game until there were four minutes or less to be played in that half of the game. This all lead to some very interesting strategy. Another thing that was different from football in the 1950's compared to today was that it was not as exposed. The television exposure was extremely limited, and fans relied on a certain show or the Sunday newspaper to learn about what happened around the country throughout that weeks football. Finally one other major difference between football today and then is that the padding and protection in the 50's was far less protective and without the protection that is offered today many more players recieved injuries.