Former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Carl Erskine has died. He was the last surviving member of the Dodgers “Boys of Summer” team that broke baseball’s racial barrier with Jackie Robinson in the 40’s. The Dodgers in a statement said Erskine died in his hometown of Anderson, Indiana. He was 97.
A hero on and off the field: Erskine had two career no-hitters and won a World Series with the Dodgers in 1955. But many remember his friendship with Jackie Robinson at a time when segregation was legal.
“It may have been transcended by his allyship with Jackie Robinson and more in the pursuit of civil rights, as well as an indispensable advocate for those with special needs – a cause that became his ultimate legacy” the team said in a statement.
Erskine also championed the Special Olympics before it became accepted in mainstream society. He received the prestigious honor of the John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award, previously bestowed upon Rachel Robinson in 2017.
Remembering the legend:
Ted Green, who directed the documentary The Best We Got: The Carl Erskine Story, said during an interview last year on LAist’s daily news program, AirTalk, that Erskine played in the golden age of baseball and the most transformative era of sports.
“I mean, this time saw the game go from trains to planes, from radio to TV, certainly from East Coast to West with San Francisco and Los Angeles,” Green said. “And most important, from segregated to integrated.”
Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten extended sympathies to Erskine’s wife and family.
“Carl Erskine was an exemplary Dodger,” he said. ““He was as much a hero off the field as he was on the field.”
