Jackie, Rickey, & the Death of the Black Baseball Player ft. Howard Bryant

All The Smoke

The Black Effect Podcast Network and iHeartPodcasts

Sports, Society & Culture, Basketball

4.7 • 7.6K Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2026

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Howard Bryant, one of the most respected baseball writers alive, joins Matt in a special conversation on Jackie Robinson Day.

Howard breaks down why Black players disappeared from MLB , what it was really like covering the steroid era, and why he believes baseball is at a crossroads right now.

Plus, he breaks down his new book King of Pawns, the untold story of Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an I-Heart podcast.
0:02.6	Guaranteed Human.
0:04.2	Welcome back to All the Smoke Baseball.
0:07.0	Today we have a very special guest, someone that is actually a friend of mine,
0:11.5	and we're doing some cool work together behind the scene that you guys will know about soon.
0:16.1	But welcome to the show, Howard Bryant.
0:17.9	What's up, man?
0:18.5	How are you?
0:20.1	I appreciate your time. Best-selling author.
0:23.4	You've done a lot of different things, documentaries, but let's start with baseball.
0:29.5	Used to be behind the scenes in that, writing. Baseball season is in full swing.
0:40.3	Jackie Robinson Day is right around the corner. When I say Jackie Robinson, what's the first thing that comes to mind for you?
0:43.3	No, the first thing that comes to mind is, I mean, obviously legend.
0:47.3	But really, I think the thing that gets me most about Jackie is just the timelessness of it.
0:52.3	But he's so present and he played, well,
0:58.2	only really two things hit me.
0:59.2	One is that he retired in 1956 after the 56 season.
1:02.0	It's crazy.
1:03.0	But the other is that Rachel, his widow is still alive.
1:05.6	She'll be 104 in July.
1:08.5	And just that spirit of Robinson is still out there. All the players are wearing
1:12.8	42 on April 15th, which was a day Jackie, integrated the big leagues, April 15th, 1947. And it's just,
	...

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