By many accounts, Pennock was a good man. Upon his death, State Sen. George B. Scarlett praised Pennock for ``his friendly smile, cheery word and ever-readiness to assist whenever possible. One newspaper obituary noted: ``He was never too busy to look over young prospects and had a hand in giving many a [Chester] County youth a start in organized baseball. But history has more memories of Herb Pennock. As general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1947 - the year Robinson, with the Brooklyn Dodgers, broke baseballs racial barrier - Pennock presided over a team that created an atmosphere of hate when playing the Dodgers. Pennock threatened Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey that the Phillies would boycott a game in Philadelphia if Rickey brought Robinson to play. The controversy surrounding the statue raises questions about history and perceptions of it: how a hero for some could be an oppressor to others. While attempting to celebrate a revival of the history of this borough of 4,600 people, the multiethnic community may have uncovered a chapter of the past that it did not intend to. ``Baseball doesnt let us have our heroes unidimensional, not all pure or all good, said historian Warren Goldstein, an author of books on baseball and a consultant to Ken Burns on Burns PBS documentary Baseball. ``It forces us to see them as complex - as good and evil attached. How do you decide who is pure enough for you? That is the question not everyone can answer, including Robinsons wife. The Historical Commission is set to begin a fund-raiser on July 18. It needs to raise $80,000 for the sculpture, which Charles Parks has agreed to do. It is to be placed in the downtown area near the entrance of Genesis Health Ventures Inc. at Old Baltimore Pike and Union Street. In a community such as Kennett Square, with many Mexican migrant farmers working in the areas thriving mushroom industry, some think a statue of Pennock would be insulting to minorities. ``Those kinds of things are the things everyone should be aware of, said Toyge Davis, 33, who heads the Parks and Recreation Department. ``You cant have a statue erected for you when you do something like that. Youre condoning that behavior. I dont think that should be allowed. The mayor of Kennett Square has a different perspective. ``It doesnt offend me because I know what it was like, said Mayor Charles S. Cramer Sr., 73, who is black. ``One of the reasons I became mayor was that I couldnt eat [in a restaurant], go in the movies, go to a soda fountain. To become mayor was an achievement to me. ``Its not surprising. Those are the memories of Kennett that most would like to forget. The ones of Pennock as a baseball player are cherished. Pennock was born Feb. 10, 1894, to a Quaker family. He attended Westtown School, where he played baseball between 1906 and 1908. Newspaper reports say he was discovered by a scout while playing at the now-defunct Cedarcroft Academy in Kennett Square. After graduating from Wenonah (N.J.) Military Academy, Pennock forsook the University of Pennsylvania to begin his pitching career in 1912 with the Philadelphia Athletics. He is best remembered for his days with the New York Yankees. Playing for the 1927 team - considered by many baseball experts to be the greatest of all time - Pennock won 19 games and lost 8. A photo of him foxhunting with Babe Ruth hangs in a Kennett Square barbershop. In his 22-year career, Pennock won 240 games and lost 161. A few months after his death from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1948, Pennock was enshrined in Cooperstown, N.Y., as one of the best pitchers of his time. But it is his role as general manager of the Phillies that has come into question. The Phillies racial history has a notorious side. The team was the last in the National League to integrate, doing so nine years after the Dodgers. According to Robinsons autobiography, Philadelphia provided him with some of his worst memories. The Phillies manager in 1947 was Southern-born Ben Chapman, who as a player with the Yankees in the 1930s was known to hurl anti-Semitic epithets at Jewish spectators. At an early 1947 season series against the Dodgers in Brooklyn, Chapman incited the team to ride Robinson hard. The vitriol coming out of the Phillies dugout was so offensive that fans wrote letters of protest to Commissioner Happy Chandler. Chandler instructed Phillies owner Bob Carpenter Jr. that the remarks from the dugout had to cease. The Phillies were scheduled to host the Dodgers two weeks later. Author Jules Tygiel in his 1983 book Baseballs Great Experiment wrote the following: ``Herb Pennock . . . had called [Branch Rickey, the Dodgers general manager] demanding that Robinson remain in Brooklyn. `(You) just cant bring that nigger here with the rest of the team, Branch. Were just not ready for that sort of thing yet, exhorted Pennock, who threatened that the Phillies would boycott the game. Rickey called Pennocks bluff and calmly responded that the Dodgers would accept a forfeit victory. The Phillies executive retreated. In contrast to that statement, a story in the July, 1, 1947, issue of The Inquirer quoted Pennock as saying ``it is possible that the Phillies were considering signing a black player. ``Were interested in any ball players of any race, color or creed who can help the club, he said in the brief article. However, the Phillies did not integrate until eight years after Pennocks death. Many of those who offended Robinson apologized to him later in life. Pennocks premature death took that possibility away from him. Robinsons wife, Rachel, an author and lecturer, said in a telephone interview from New York, where she works at the Jackie Robinson Foundation, that she did not have an opinion on the statue proposal. ``A lot of what is said is not documented, and even those things that are told become legend. . . . Its a local situation. I havent heard of it [the Pennock incident], and since I cant verify it, I cant take a position. Many in the Kennett Square community have been caught unaware of Pennocks role regarding Robinson. Members of the Historical Commission have said the subject likely would be discussed at their next meeting, but in the interim the project is still set to go. ``Certainly, it hasnt caused the Hall of Fame to remove him, said member Leon Rowe. ``I dont think his Quaker background is being reflected there. Former Borough Council President Ken Roberts, whose wife, Priscilla, is chairwoman of the Historical Commission, has known the Pennock family since growing up in Kennett Square. He said the idea was meant to be something positive to memorialize Pennock the player. ``My experience with the Pennock family is that there wasnt a racist bone in their bodies, said Roberts. A historical argument says that figures of the past cannot be judged by todays standards. Ken Pienkos, who is white, is in charge of organizing an exhibit of baseball memorabilia to begin the July 18 fund-raiser. Pienkos said that while he thought the racial slurs reported to have been said by Pennock would be very offensive today, he believed the comments were not relevant because they were made in a different historical context. ``Im going to stand behind the idea that it was a different time, Pienkos said. ``There are figures of the time idolized and worshiped and statued that we could dig up similar dirt about. Does that mean we should tear down those statues? Its part of a very, very big story that I cant change. Mayor Cramer prefers not to dwell on the ills of the past. He says Pennock is a hometown hero and the statue is a good cause. But he does believe young people should be made more aware of the way things were. ``We should look to the future to better things, not to things gone by, Cramer said. Davis, the head of the Parks and Recreation Department, is critical of the mayors stand. ``Most black constituents I have talked to are against it, Davis said. ``But no one has spearheaded anything to go against it. He thinks it is wrong to honor someone he sees as perpetuating a system of discrimination. The mayor ``should stand up and let it be known, Davis said. ``You treated me like this, and youre going to build a statue of someone who treated him that way? What do I tell my kids? ``Its got to be a statue thats good for everyone. I could see old heads walking by that and cuss, saying: `Yeah. I remember what he did to Jackie.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 16:06:54 +0000