The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)

Billy Wayne: Clyde Sukeforth

Quotes 

• Branch Rickey : We're tackling something big here, Jackie. If we fail, no one will try it again for twenty years. But if we succeed...

  Clyde Sukeforth : If we succeed, Brooklyn will win a pennant.

  Branch Rickey : Yes, that too. But we're dealing with rights here. The right of any American to play baseball, the American game. You think he's our boy, Clyde?

  Clyde Sukeforth : Well, he can run, he can hit, and he can field.

  Branch Rickey : But can he take it?

  Clyde Sukeforth : That I don't know.

  Branch Rickey : What do you think, Jackie?

  Jackie Robinson : Well, I can try.

  Branch Rickey : Think you've got guts enough to play the game no matter what happens? They'll shout insults at you. They'll come into you spikes first. They'll throw at your head.

  Jackie Robinson : They've been throwing at my head for a long time, Mr. Rickey.

  Branch Rickey : Suppose I'm a player in the heat of an important game. Suppose I collide with you at second base and when I get up I say, 'You - you dirty black so-and-so!' What do you do?

  Jackie Robinson : Mr. Rickey, do you want a ballplayer who's afraid to fight back?

  Branch Rickey : I want a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back. You got to do this job with base hits, stolen bases, and fielding ground balls, Jackie. Nothing else! Now I'm playing against you in a World Series and I'm hot-headed. I want to win this game. So I go into you spikes first. You jab the ball in my ribs and the umpire says, 'Out.' I flare. All I can see is your black face - that black face right over me. So I haul off and punch you right in the cheek. What do you do?

  Jackie Robinson : Mr. Rickey, I've got two cheeks.

  Branch Rickey : Good.