Thank you University of Nebraska Press for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Mr. Book just finished Under Jackie’s Shadow: Voices of Black Minor Leaguers Baseball Left Behind, by Mitchell Nathanson.

This book is a oral history of black minor leaguers. Almost all of them never played in the majors and the few that did only got a cup of coffee. Almost all of them debuted in the minors in the 1960s, but two of three did in the early 1970s.

They all had several other things in common. They were all black and their stories show they were all victims of, and subjected to, horrible racism. Some of them may have been good enough for a career somewhere in the majors, even if it wasn’t stardom. They may have been one or two could have become a star. But, none of them got the chance to fully show what they were capable of.

If anyone is thinking that a book of old men telling their stories about the days in which they were minor league baseball players, none of which you ever would have heard of—even the cousin of one of baseball’s all-time greats—wouldn’t be a good book, this proves you wrong.

I give this book an A. Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews

Mr. Book originally finished reading this on July 7, 2024.