by Wil Haygood
First published 2018
Wil Haygood chronicles the remarkable 1968-1969 season when the Tigers of segregated East High School in Columbus, Ohio captured both state baseball and basketball championships. The author of The Butler examines how these athletes triumphed while America burned around them. Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy fell to assassins' bullets. Cities erupted in flames. Race relations reached a breaking point. Yet the Tigers kept winning, defeating wealthier white schools across Ohio. Haygood profiles the players who made it happen: power forward Robert Wright, whose father committed murder; second baseman Kenny Mizelle, who believed his father was dead; and Eddie "Rat" Ratleff, the dual-sport star bound for Olympic basketball. The story extends beyond the athletes to include Jack Gibbs, East High's first black principal, and Bob Hart, the white basketball coach fighting injustice. Haygood places their athletic achievements within the broader context of the civil rights era, showing how sports became a battleground for racial progress. The result captures both an unlikely championship run and a pivotal moment in American social history.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, sports, african-american-historical-fiction, basketball, american-history
Vibes: emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: against-all-odds, underdog
Setting: Columbus, East High School, Ohio
Period: 1968-1969
432 pages · Hardcover · Knopf