Texas prison officials wouldn’t let a man on Death Row read Jackie Robinson’s words, saying that to do so might lead to “strikes or riots.”
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Brooklyn Dodgers infielder Jackie Robinson swings at Ebbets Field in New York in 1951. (AP archives) |
BY DAVE ZIRIN
SPECIAL TO THE STAR-TELEGRAM
Who knew sports history could strike fear in the most fearsome prison system in the United States? But what other explanation could there be for the fact that the history of “America’s Pastime” is being denied to Texas Death Row prisoner Kenneth Foster Jr.?
Kenneth’s case has garnered international attention because both prosecution and defense agree that he was 80 feet away from the murder of Michael LaHood. Earlier in the evening, he had been driving the man who pulled the trigger, Maurecio Brown. In Texas, that’s enough to land him on Death Row.
Foster and I began to exchange letters on sports and politics after he read my book Welcome to the Terrordome.