Joe Cox - A Fine Team Man: Jackie Robinson and the Lives He Touched

Joe Cox is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and is the author of Almost Perfect: The Heartbreaking Pursuit of Pitchings Holy Grail and The Immaculate Inning: Unassisted Triple Plays, 40/40 Seasons, and the Stories behind Baseballs Rarest Feats. He has also coauthored or contributed to another five sports books. He lives with his wife and children near Bowling Green, Kentucky.

If you have ever watched a sporting event and wondered why an athlete struggles to string together coherent thoughts seconds after ending a significant competition, well, the same thing happens to authors. Next time, Im going to write this before the book and not after, but until then, my apologies in advance to those I omit in the fatigue of the moment.

As always, my family has been kind, helpful, and unselfish in their time and love. I feel sorry for people who dont have a spouse as wonderful as my wife, Julie, but that basically means I feel sorry for everyone. She is a fine team woman, among many other things. Much love to our children, Natalie and Ryan. I hope that baseball continues to reward you as much as it has rewarded me, and that you each follow your own paths with the courage and boldness of Jackie Robinson. Love to Mom and Teresa for their constant love and support and to Dad for those Friday mornings in the car with Red Barber and Bob Edwards. Thanks also to the Costellows for including me in their family in a million ways, all of which are appreciated.

Thanks to my friends at Cole, Loney & Cox for supporting my other career and for being friends. Not unlike the old Brooklyn Dodgers, it takes all kinds to make a team, and on our good days, Id like to think we could win a pennant or two.

Thanks to all of the writers who have handled these topics previously. Arnold Rampersad and Lee Lowenfish contributed what I would consider definitive biographies of Robinson and Rickey, and they each made my life easier accordingly. Red Barber was a great writer as well as a great broadcaster, and this book wouldnt exist without him or Doris Kearns Goodwin, whose books surpass even their high reputations. John Paul Hill is a kind and helpful author, despite being a fellow Western Kentucky University alum.

Thanks to my editor, Rick Rinehart, and production editor Meredith Dias, copy editor Desiree Reid, layout artist Joanna Beyer, and proofreader Susan Barnett. A big thank you also to Ryan Schroer, who helped me dodge a couple of big errors in the manuscript.

The ideas make no difference without all of the people who make them more readable, more accessible, and more enjoyable, and they all do it well.

Thanks to the Baseball Hall of Fame, particularly Matt Rothenberg, Cassidy Lent, and John Horne, who always go above and beyond.

Last but far from least, thanks to my readers everywhere. I hope youve enjoyed this, and I hope we can do this again soon.

Joe Cox

September 2018

Albany Times-Union

Baseball Digest

Baseball Magazine

Boston Globe

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Chicago Daily Herald

Chicago Defender

Chicago Tribune

Cincinnati Enquirer

Civilization

Cleveland Plain-Dealer

Dayton Daily News

Des Moines Tribune

Detroit Free Press

The (Baltimore) Evening Sun

Focus Magazine

Ithaca Journal

Look Magazine

Los Angeles Times

Louisville Courier-Journal

McCalls Magazine

The Montgomery Advertiser

New York Daily News

New York Mirror

New York Times

New York Tribune

Our Sports

Philadelphia Inquirer

Pittsburgh Courier

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Readers Digest

Saturday Evening Post

Smithsonian

Southern Cultures

The Sporting News

Sports Collectors Digest

Sports Heritage

St. Louis Star and Times

The Tallahassee Democrat

USA Today

Washington Post

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