Articles by Ira Berkow
Ira Berkow is a former sports columnist for the New York Times, a Pulitzer Prize winner for National Reporting, and the author 25 books, including the most recent, It Happens Every Spring, a collection of his baseball writings.
Historian's Corner
Jackie Robinson Challenges Elston Howard
By
Ira Berkow
In my mind’s eye, going back to when I was 15 years old in 1955, I can still vividly see Jackie Robinson in that dramatic, base-daring style of his—arms flapping, feet dancing—challenging the Yankees rookie left-fielder, the first black Yankee, Elston Howard. I had skipped school that afternoon—I was a sophomore at Sullivan High School on the North Side of Chicago—to watch on television the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees in a World Series game.