George Shuba dies, ballplayer known for his handshake with Jackie Robinson was 89
Montreal Royals' Jackie Robinson, right, is congratulated by teammate George Shuba as he crosses home to score against the Jersey City Giants at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, N.J. on April 18, 1946. Credit: AP
George "Shotgun" Shuba, a Brooklyn Dodgers teammate of Jackie Robinson whose congratulatory gesture after a Robinson home run in 1946 was captured in a photograph that signaled a changing society, has died. He was 89.
Shuba, who played alongside Robinson with the Dodgers' minor league affiliate in Montreal and with the big-league club in Brooklyn, died Monday in Youngstown, Ohio. The Los Angeles Dodgers announced his death but did not disclose the cause.
The image of Shuba and Robinson shaking hands at home plate after Robinson hit a home run for the Montreal Royals against the Jersey City Giants in his first professional baseball game lasted long after the moment came and went. It endures as the first known photograph of black and white players congratulating each other on a baseball diamond.
One year later, Robinson became the first African-American player in major league baseball's modern era when he made his debut with the Dodgers on April 15, 1947. Despite being subjected to racial epithets and threats from the public and opposing players, he excelled, was named National League rookie of the year and went on to a 10-year Hall of Fame career with the Dodgers franchise, which moved to Los Angeles after the 1957 season.
Shuba, a left-handed-hitting outfielder and pinch-hitting specialist, played parts of seven seasons with Brooklyn and was on the roster for three World Series, including the 1955 championship team known as the Boys of Summer. In 1953, he hit the first pinch-hit home run for a National League team in the World Series.
On opening day, April 18, at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, Shuba was batting behind Robinson, who was playing second base. In the third inning, Robinson hammered a three-run home run off pitcher Warren Sandell over the left-field fence. Shuba, on deck awaiting his turn at bat, approached his teammate as he finished circling the bases.
"I got lined up with Jackie, he came toward the plate and he had a big smile on his face. I did, too," Shuba said in a 2006 interview. "I didn't have a problem with Jackie at all. We were ballplayers. It didn't matter what color he was. Shaking his hand and congratulating him was just the right thing to do."
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