Talk:Curt Roberts

Untitled

Curtis Roberts simply loved baseball. Like most players of his era, he played under the most horrible conditions, as America was a very segregated and polarized nation at the time. Mr. Roberts, who when joining the Pittsburg team, still had to contend with the Jim Crow laws of the time, and along with the racial hatred shown to him by many, still played the game with gusto and zeal. It was his passion for baseball that made him who he was, and he kept that passion alive until his untimely death in 1969. Curtis left behind a wife, Christine Roberts, 3 daughters: Linda, Leith and Katherine, and 3 sons; Curtis Jr., Phillip and Michael.

We think of him fondly and miss him to this very day.

Written by Phillip S. Roberts

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Curt Roberts/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Sarastro1 (talk · contribs) 23:08, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

In general, this looks pretty good, and is a very interesting little article. I have copy-edited the article and please feel free to revert anything with which you do not agree or changes any meaning. There are a few things to clear up, but I think there are a couple of things missing from the article before it can be a GA. However, they are all easy enough to add. --Sarastro1 (talk) 23:08, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

• Can we link "farm system"?
• Batting average should probably be linked somewhere.
• The lead mentions his birthplace but not the main body.
• "Roberts was a skilled defensive player who could not hit with enough proficiency to remain in the major leagues": This probably belongs in the main body somewhere (see below).
• "While his career was short, his career paved the way for other black players to debut for the Pirates, the most notable whom was future Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente.": Not in main body, and this really should be. And it requires a citation.
• What about his career before leaving Denver? How did he get to Denver?
• "Roberts was obtained by Pittsburgh from Denver of the Western League for $10,000 as part of a minor league working agreement prior the 1952 season": Lost here, I'm afraid.
• "The Pirates were pressured to integrate their team roster by Pittsburgh's black community": This skims over what I imagine is a big issue. "Integrate" does not really explain it properly, and but for the reference to "black community", I would not know what this meant. It could simply refer to harmony between team-mates. I think a re-phrase is needed.
• "The general manager of the Pirates at the time was Branch Rickey, who signed Jackie Robinson, the first black Major League Baseball player seven years earlier while with the Dodgers": Who was at the Dodgers, RIckey or Robinson?
• "Rickey explained to Roberts that he needed to have a "very even temper" in order to succeed in the Major Leagues": Again glosses over what the source says, which refer to the problems he faced as a black player.
• "Rickey goes on and says that he selected Roberts to become the Pirates first black player because of his skills and his temper.": Aside from the odd change to past tense, I'm not sure this is important enough to include.
• "against starter Robin Roberts": I'm afraid the significance of "starter" defeats my limited baseball knowledge.
• "Roberts was traded to the New York Yankees as the player to be named later in a trade that sent former American League MVP Bobby Shantz to the Yankees": Also, not sure what "as the player to be named later" means here.
• I don't think "bouncing" in the lead or the main body is particularly encyclopaedic.
• "In his 164 appearances at second base, he handled 856 out of 883 total chances successfully for a fielding percentage of .969, a little lower than the league average during his era.": Unreferenced.
• "His son Curt Roberts Jr. supposedly was working on a book about his father's life in 1987,[2] but there was no evidence the book ever was published.": Supposedly does not reflect the source and the latter part of the sentence is OR.
• While spot-checking a couple of sources, I noticed they mentioned that Roberts faced racial abuse and discrimination, but this is not mentioned in the article. This seems a fairly crucial point if he was a pioneer.
• There are quite a few details from the Pittsburg Post-Gazette article which may give some more information. For example, it gives his career after baseball, and mentions that the driver who killed him was drunk. It also suggests causes for his failure such as the pressure of being a "pioneer". Also, a career-ending injury in 1961. The article also neglects to mention his marriage or children. It may also be worth mentioning his popularity. And I'm sure there is something more to add about his technique or style, for example not being able to hit well enough (mentioned in the lead).
• Minor point, but a couple of the cites to ref 2 refer to page 22 of the newspaper. I think they require a separate cite if they are to be linked to the newspaper? I always prefer to keep the citations to different pages separate anyway.
• Dablink: Ground out.
• Spot checks reveal no problems.
• Link checker not too happy with "Retrolinks".

I will place the article on hold to allow any changes or replies to be made, but I don't think it should take too long to pass this. --Sarastro1 (talk) 23:08, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

I think I took care of all the concerns, but I did rewrite the article, so if you have any new concerns I will try to fix it. With two of the concerns, the dab link mentions the definition of ground out, while I'm not sure what he means with "retrolink". Thanks Secret ^account 19:37, 16 April 2012 (UTC)

• I moved a reference which appeared to be in the wrong place, but please revert if I've messed up. Also I did a little copy-editing again, and once more please revert anything you don't like.
• I did not do any further spot checks for the new material.
• One minor point which does not affect the article's status: "players of colour" seems a little old-fashioned to me. In the UK, this would be slightly uncomfortable, but maybe not elsewhere. And I think "black player" would be simpler anyway.
• Passing now, nice work and an interesting article. Sarastro1 (talk) 21:27, 16 April 2012 (UTC)