Jackie Robinson
Robinson was also taunted by opposing teams. Some, notably the St. Louis Cardinals, said they would strike if Robinson played. National League President Ford Frick and Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler said that any striking players would be suspended. Robinson became the target of rough physical play by opponents (particularly the Cardinals). Once he received a seven-inch cut in his leg. On April 22, 1947, during a game between the Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies, Phillies players called Robinson a "nigger" from their dugout. They yelled that he should "go back to the cotton fields". Rickey later recalled that Phillies manager Ben Chapman "did more than anybody to unite the Dodgers. When he poured out that string of unconscionable abuse, he solidified and united thirty men."