Pee Wee Reese
Maybe tomorrow, we'll all wear 42, so nobody could tell us apart.
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Branch Rickey
You think God likes baseball, Herb?
Herb Pennock
What - ? What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Branch Rickey
It means someday you're gonna meet God, and when he inquires as to why you didn't take the field against Robinson in Philadelphia, and you answer that it's because he was a Negro, it may not be a sufficient reply!
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Ben Chapman
Hey, Stanky, what's it like bein' a nigger's nigger?
Eddie Stanky
I dunno, Chapman, what's it like bein' a redneck piece of shit?
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Jackie Robinson
You want a player who doesn't have the guts to fight back?
Branch Rickey
No. No. I want a player who's got the guts not to fight back. People aren't gonna like this. They're gonna do anything to get you to react. Echo a curse with a curse and, uh, they'll hear only yours. Follow a blow with a blow and they'll say, "The Negro lost his temper." That "The Negro does not belong." Your enemy will be out in force... and you cannot meet him on his own low ground. We win with hitting, running, fielding. Only that. We win if the world is convinced of two things: That you are a fine gentleman and a great baseball player. Like our Savior... you gotta have the guts... to turn the other cheek. Can you do it?
Jackie Robinson
You give me a uniform... you give me a, heh, number on my back... and I'll give you the guts.
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reporter
Whatcha gonna do if one of these pitchers throws for your head?
Jackie Robinson
I'll duck.
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Jackie Robinson
I don't care if they like me. I didn't come here to make friends. I don't even care if they respect me. I know who I am. I've got enough respect for myself. I do not want them to beat me.
Rachel Robinson
They're never going to beat you.
Jackie Robinson
They... came close today.
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Branch Rickey
[Referring to Jackie Robinson]
He's a Methodist, I'm a Methodist... And God's a Methodist; We can't go wrong.
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Jackie Robinson
I don't think it matters what I believe, only what I do.
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Branch Rickey
We had a victory of fascism in Germany. It's time, time we had a victory over racism at home.
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Burt Shotton
When I took the Cleveland uniform off two years ago I promised the missus I'd never put on another uniform again. So the roses are beautiful and, uh, I sleep better too.
Branch Rickey
Roses and sleep are two wonderful things, Burt. But sleep you can get when you're in your casket, and flowers look great on top of it. But, uh, you don't look like a dead man to me, Burt.
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Leo Durocher
If Robinson can help us win, then he is gonna play on this ball club!
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reporter
Baseball was proof positive that democracy was real. A baseball box score after all, is a democratic thing. It doesn't say how big you are, or what religion you follow it does not know how you voted, or the color of your skin, it simply states what kind of ballplayer you were on any particular day.
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[last lines]
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Branch Rickey
It's another opening day, Harold. All future, no past.
Harold Parrott
It's a blank page, sir.
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[from trailer]
Jackie Robinson
I'm not goin' anywhere! I'm right here!
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Kirby Higbe
I got traded... to Pittsburgh!
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[from trailer]
Branch Rickey
Jackie Robinson. A black man in white baseball.
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[from trailer]
Ben Chapman
Why don'tcha look in a mirror? This is a white man's game!
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[Wendell speeds away from a crowd of threatening white men]
Jackie Robinson
What the hell, Wendell?
Wendell Smith
A man came by while you was asleep. He said more men were coming. It might have been those fellas. Mr. Rickey said to get you to Daytona Beach ASAP.
Jackie Robinson
Why didn't you say so?
Wendell Smith
Well, Mr. Rickey was afraid you wouldn't want to leave. You'd want to stay there and fight.
[Jackie starts laughing]
Wendell Smith
Man, what in the hell are you laughing at?
Jackie Robinson
I thought you woke me because, because I was cut from the team.
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Mr. Brock
Well, the wife's inside cookin'. You know what she asked me? She asked me this mornin', "What do you serve when a hero comes to dinner?"
Jackie Robinson
Um, Mr. Brock, I'm just a ball player.
Mr. Brock
Oh no no, you tell that to the little colored boys playin' baseball in Florida today. To them, you a hero.
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[after Jackie smashes his bat in the dugout tunnel, Rickey approaches him]
Jackie Robinson
The next white son of a bitch who opens his mouth, I'll smash his goddamn teeth in.
Branch Rickey
You can't, Jackie. You know it.
Jackie Robinson
I'm supposed to let this go on?
Branch Rickey
These men have to live with themselves...
Jackie Robinson
I have to live with myself, too! And right now I'm living a sermon out there.
Branch Rickey
You don't matter right now, Jack. You're in this thing. You don't have the right to pull out from the backing of people who believe in you, respect you and who need you.
Jackie Robinson
Is that so?
Branch Rickey
If you fight, they won't say Chapman forced you to; they'll just say that you're over your head. That you belong where you are.
Jackie Robinson
Do you know what it's like, having someone do this to you?
Branch Rickey
No. No. You do. You're the one living the sermon. In the wilderness. Forty days. All of it. Only you.
Jackie Robinson
And not a damn thing I can do about it.
Branch Rickey
Of course there is! You can stand up and hit! You can get on base and you can score! You can win this game for us! We need you! Everyone needs you.
[the players are moving above]
Jackie Robinson
They're taking the field.
Branch Rickey
Who's playing first?
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Leo Durocher
Nice guys finish last.
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Branch Rickey
[Sees Jackie playing at second base in spring training with Montreal]
You're not playing him at shortstop, huh, Clay?
Clay Hopper
No, he's been getting by on a quick release; his arm's too weak for short. I think second base is his spot.
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reporter
You mark my words and circle this date.
reporter
Negroes are gonna run the white man straight out of baseball.
reporter
I'm not prejudiced. It's physiological.
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