Group Communication in 42 The Jackie Robinson Story

The movie 42 is a true story and is based on the story of the first year of when Jackie Robinson became the first Black man to play baseball in the major league. The leadership not only shown by Robinson, but owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers Branch Rickey and other players on the team. This was something that at the time no one would’ve thought could ever happen. Rickey took a chance on a young player who had an attitude problem and turned him into a humble elite baseball player. Anytime you think of the number 42 you should think of Jackie Robinson. His number is the only number in the entire major league to be retired. Only one day a year every player wears the number 42 to signify his greatness not only to baseball but to all of sports. This was the first time that the color barrier had broken in any sport in 1947. This based on a true story shows the struggles that not only Robinson had to go through, but what the whole team went through. People booing him calling him the N word, treating to kill him and his family. This movie shows a lot of characteristics on the team the coach and the owner. This movie is where leadership shows along with rules norms conflicts status and communication to the movie 42.

There are different roles with this movie. Being that the movie is based in 1947 there are roles that the people have. Whether that is being the manager of the club, being the owner, or even being a player on the team. Being that they are dealing with a skin color difference there is going to be different roles with the players and people of different skin colors. Jackie Robinsons role was given to him by the owner of the team, his coaches and even his teammates. They take that role which will best suit them to end up winning ball games and eventually the World Series. The roles were shown right in the beginning where someone who works for the Dodgers feels that Rickey has lost his mind trying to get a negro ball player to the Brooklyn Dodgers. He then tells him to sit down and showing his ability to use his role to make sure that even though he is doing something that will not be viewed to many as good he wanted to keep it under control. He showed that he had the assertive communication behavior by showing respect for all of Robinson because he was a black man in a white man’s league. He was able to make sure that he didn’t lose his temper while people were getting under his skin. When he first came to be with the team minor league team, he wanted to make sure that he could control his temper even with people calling him the n word. Showing that he has the guts not to fight back is showing his role in putting down the rules for Robinson.

The norms for the team are the norms of any baseball team. The players found their place on the team. Even before the start of the season there were players that didn’t want to follow their norms of being a part of the team. Players signed a petition to not want to play with Jackie Robinson. The manager Leo Durocher played his role and norms of keeping the team together. He made a meeting in the middle of the night; he confronted the players who didn’t want to play with Robinson. His role making sure the team was staying together was a big part of the season if they were to stay together. Him saying “I don’t care if he’s yellow, or black, or has stripes like a zebra!” It showed his role of keeping players in line, they didn’t want to play with a black man, so he was doing a good job until he go suspended by the commissioner. I think that Branch Rickey did his role by making sure that the Robinson wouldn’t go out of line. I also think that Robinson himself played a big role with being able to control his temper and even when he was heckled by a Phillies manager. Even his players after they realized what a great player he is, would end up coming to his defense. When Robinson was being heckled, one of his players got sick of it and confronted him about it. Or when Ostermuller throws at his head, the whole bench comes to his defense wanting to fight him. As a sports movie the players and coaches and even people in the media played their role. Writers wanting to know what a lot of people want to know how he was going to do with playing in a sport where a lot of white men play and where they could be throwing at his head.

Leadership is the biggest part of group communication in this movie. If it weren’t for the leadership of Rickey, all of the managers and teammates. The MLB would not be what it is today. Baseball was always known as a white man sport, and for people to be able to use their leadership is what makes this a great film. When Jackie was told by an officer to get off the field during the middle of a game the leadership of his manager to be able to handle it to where Robinson didn’t end up going to jail. The leadership of Branch Rickey is the biggest, being able to keep Robinson in check wile going through racism and not reacting is something true leaders know how to do. Leo Durocher knowing how to handle his players when they did not want to play with Robinson. Also, the managers making sure that he was put in the best spot to be successful. Playing him from shortstop, to second base, then to first base they found where he can not only be successful with the team but also being able to help this team win. The players showed leadership when he is being heckled by fans, he ends up just telling them that these people can boo all they want. The scene with Pee Wee Reese talking to Jackie during a game shows the type of leadership he has. According to a journal “Coaches have great influence on their team, and the coach's leadership styles and behaviors have a great effect on the performance of their athletes.” When the team put together a petition to not play with Robinson Pee Wee Reese felt that he couldn’t give up his spot on the team. So him not signing showed he can lead the team and be man enough to be able to say that if he is man enough to take his job, than he deserves it. Leadership is a big part in not only rhis film but in any type of team sport, without leadership there would be no team at all.

There were a lot of differences in communications for players especially at the start of the season. There was communication going on with the players on not wanting to play with Jackie. There has to be communication especially on a baseball team. There were a lot of signs that were fastballs inside which means players were trying to throw at Robinson. After a while when the team started playing there was a lot more communication where a player was offering Robinson to take a shower with everyone else, instead of just waiting for everyone to be done. The fact that people would stand up when Robinson got when he got spiked and even though they were tempted to hit the next batter in the head, Jackie was able to calm them down and just make sure they got him out.

The principles of human communication how that communication resides in people not words. Having the players petition against playing with Robinson shows that people put meaning in what they want to say, henceforth putting the petition to not play with Jackie. There have been players who wanted to be traded because of him and that shows the communication that they don’t want to play with him. Or when Pee Wee Reese didn’t want to play in Cincinnati because his family called him a carpetbagger. But even more so that people would send him death treats because he was playing in a white man’s game. That showed a lot of communication through people wanting him to stop playing baseball in the majors. The players listen to what is being said, especially when Robinson was heckled by the Phillies manager. A player then was sick of hearing the racist abuse and walked over to the Phillies dugout and confronted him. Just hearing how much people hated one man got other players sick of what was happening to him while playing it would get to people. In a scholarly journal there are three steps to active listening “1) demonstrates moderate to high nonverbal involvement, 2) reflects the speaker’s message using verbal paraphrasing, and 3) may include asking questions that encourage speakers to elaborate on his or her experiences.” When you hear something that bothers you in the moment it ends up boiling over, and that is what is shown in the film.

There are a lot of nonverbal content thrown in sports, like signs of what kind of pitch is thrown and where. I think when they throw the ball at Robinson it shows the amount of nonverbal with not only his team but with his opponents too. There are times where when Robinson uses nonverbal communication with wife while he is playing. Also writing the petition showed nonverbally that they did not want to play with Robinson. When people are writing letters threating Robinsons life when he goes to Cincinnati there tends to be a lot of nonverbal communication with him. Anytime in baseball there is going to be a lot of nonverbal communication and this film has a good amount of them in there and is what helps the communication with the players and the team.

The movie 42 is a great story not only about baseball, but how the communication between the players coaches and other parts have helped the make this into a lesson on group communication in sports. Jackie Robinson with the entire team displayed many characteristics of group communication. The history around the movie and what it showed back in 1947 how much communication mattered to the team and the players. There was no way they would’ve been able to thrive without communication from Branch Rickey to the managers down to the coaches of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Works Cited

Weger, H., Castle Bell, G., Minei, E. M., & Robinson, M. C. (2014). The relative effectiveness of active listening in initial interactions. International Journal of Listening, 28(1), 13-31. doi:10.1080/10904018.2013.813234

Ramzaninezhad, R. (2009). THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COACH'S LEADERSHIP STYLES AND TEAM COHESION IN IRAN FOOTBALL CLUBS PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COACH'S LEADERSHIP STYLES AND TEAM COHESION IN IRAN FOOTBALL CLUBS PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE,3(2), 111-120. doi:https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/930/93012708003.pdf