ESPN's David Schoenfield has an interesting piece on the difficulties involved in trying to confirm this legendary incident...was it merely legendary?
Quote:
In the movie "42" (spoiler alert) there is a key scene when Jackie Robinson is being heckled by fans in Cincinnati. Shortstop Pee Wee Reese, from nearby Louisville, goes over to Robinson and puts his arm around him. The event has become a principal moment of the Robinson story -- a man from the south showing support for Robinson. There is even a statue at the Brooklyn Cyclones' home park commemorating the event.
But did it really happen? Brian Cronin investigates and says history is a little murky on the subject.
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Did Pee Wee Reese-Jackie Robinson moment happen? - ESPN
Schoenfield tries to track down the incident and makes an interesting discovery about the level of coverage the Robinson saga was actually getting in 1947. Nothing is established conclusively about the Reese gesture either way, there appears to be little or no agreement about when and where it took place.
When I see how elusive a story is when it concerns something which did or did not take place just 66 years ago, in front of thousands of witnesses, in the age of modern communications...it makes me think about how unreliable our information on medieval or ancient times may be.
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