ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 20, 1996 TAG: 9604230150
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG NYE KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
For decades many of America's greatest baseball players never wore a major-league uniform.
Josh Gibson swung a powerful bat that produced some of the game's mightiest home runs. Satchel Paige was a dazzling pitcher whose smoke left dozens of batters frozen at the plate.
About the only thing Gibson and Paige couldn't do was change the color of their skin.
Unable to perform that kind of miracle, Gibson and Paige found stardom and glory in the Negro Leagues, which flourished in the 1930s and 1940s. They flourished, of course, because in those days major-league baseball would not allow blacks on its teams.
Despite that, both men never gave up hope that one day the majors would finally lift the color barrier. And when that day came, Gibson and Paige were sure they would be the first blacks to wear a major-league uniform.
It didn't quite work out that way - as HBO's latest movie, ``Soul of the Game,'' so vividly chronicles. Another man, the college-educated Jackie Robinson, was the one eventually chosen to lead the way.
``Soul of the Game,'' premiering tonight at 8, stars Blair Underwood as Robinson, Mykelti Williamson as Gibson and Delroy Lindo as Paige. Practically everyone knows of Robinson and Paige, but until Ken Burns' monumental PBS ``Baseball'' series aired in the fall of 1994, few people had heard of Gibson.
Yet, Gibson might have been the best of the three. Called ``the black Babe Ruth,'' Gibson hit 972 home runs during his career in the Negro Leagues. But physical problems that also produced mental lapses robbed him of his dream of making the majors.
The film opens in 1945 with Paige playing for the Kansas City Monarchs and Gibson playing for their Homestead Grays. Their one-on-one duels on the field had become legend. Away from the field, they were long-time friends.
When word got around that Branch Rickey (played by Edward Hermann) decided to he was going to sign black players for his Brooklyn Dodgers team, Gibson was one of the players he had scouted. But Gibson's problems caused Rickey to back off.
Rickey also considered Paige, but decided that Satch's habit of clowning on the mound and also his age were liabilities. Rickey went with Robinson, who also played for the Monarchs, because he thought the younger player could handle the pressure of being ``the first.''
Both Gibson and Paige were bitterly disappointed.
It was that aspect of the story that drew Underwood to the part.
``This is not really a story about Jackie Robinson moving up to the majors,'' Underwood said. ``It is about these three men and their relationships.
``And it's not just about the black experience. It's about America's pastime, i.e. baseball. This is a universal story about, yes, a part of history - African-American history - but it's about baseball and it's about people.''
Underwood, whose uncle Eli played for Pittsburgh in the Negro Leagues, was aware of Robinson's place in history but didn't really know that much about the player as a person. One of the first things he did to get ready for the role was to watch the 1950 movie ``The Jackie Robinson Story,'' in which Robinson played himself and Ruby Dee played his wife.
``That helped a lot,'' Underwood said. ``And I watched the Ken Burns documentary, just to capture the man and his feel and the way he walked. Of course we know that he was very pigeon-toed.
``So little things like that we tried to capture; his walk, the way he ran low to the ground. His batting stance was very unique. So that one movie where he played himself was probably the best thing, the most helpful instrument I had.''
Robinson is portrayed as being somewhat reluctant to sign with the Dodgers because he, too, believed that Gibson or Paige should go first. Rickey's honesty helped persuade him.
``Why do you want to do this?,'' Robinson asked the owner.
``Because I want to win the pennant,'' Rickey quickly answered.
The Dodgers boss knew he would be scoring a social victory but he also knew that good ballplayers, no matter what their color, would mean victories on the field, too.
Paige got over his frustration of not being the pioneer. He joined the Cleveland Indians in 1948 at the age of 42 and was named American League rookie of the year. He went on to pitch professional ball for another 10 years.
Gibson's story had a much sadder ending. Three months before Robinson made his debut in a Brooklyn uniform, Gibson died at age 36 of a massive stroke caused by a brain tumor.
Williamson said he was one of those who knew very little about Gibson until he began working on the movie. But through research he quickly became familiar with his character.
``He was misunderstood,'' Williamson said earlier this year in Pasadena. ``The fact that he had a brain tumor, the man was a ticking clock. Because he drank to dull his pain, people thought he drank just because he was a drinker. And that was not the case.''
Williamson hopes that ``Soul of the Game'' does more than entertain viewers.
``I'd like for people to take to heart the contribution that the Negro has made to the quality of life that we all live right now in this country,'' Williamson said. ``And the contribution that the Negro has made to American history as well as American sports.
``I'd like for people to seriously consider erasing the color line. Because that's a big headache that none of us need.''
LENGTH: Long : 107 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. Blair Underwood (from left), Mykelti Williamson andby CNBDelroy Lindo star as Jackie Robinson, Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige
respectively in ``Soul of the Game,'' airing tonight at 8 on HBO.
color. 2. Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Type first letter of feature OR type help for list of commands FIND S-DB DB OPT SS WRD QUIT QUIT Save options? YES NO GROUP YOU'VE SELECTED: QUIT NO login: c