When the Baseball Commissioner tells Branch Rickey that he must suspend Leo Durocher, he is reading a newspaper article about Durocher's "Love Nest." A sidebar article on the same page mentions Durocher's mother commenting about his suspension, which hadn't happened yet.
When Rachel stands when Jackie gets spiked on first base, a man in a fedora is sitting next to her. Later, when the camera zooms in towards Rachel holding the baby during the National Anthem, the same man has his hat off.
In the film, that Leo Durocher is suspended for his affair with a married woman. In reality, he was suspended for reported links to gamblers.
Both Rachel Robinson and Ralph Branca, film consultant and Dodger pitcher in the dugout that day, say the scene of Robinson breaking his bat in the dugout tunnel did not happen. The director said he included the scene because he felt "there was no way Robinson could have withstood all that abuse without cracking at least once, even if it was in private."
The scene in which Jackie Robinson and Ben Chapman are to shake hands for a photo, Robinison ignores Chapman's extended hand and picks up a bat that he and Chapman hold on opposite ends for the photo. In actuality, it was Chapman that refused to pose shaking hands with Robinson and he suggested that they hold opposite ends of a bat. That stuck in Robinson's craw, but he was pressured to go along.
In the game against Pittsburgh, with Ostermueller pitching, Robinson is hit by a pitch in the head. According to Robinson's wife, Rachel, he was actually hit in the wrist.
Red Barber is shown broadcasting road games in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. However, in 1947 he did not travel with the team. Instead, he recreated away games at home in a studio, based on data sent by wire via Western Union. Live Dodger broadcasts of away games began in 1948.
At the end of the movie, still shots of the players appear on the screen, with little factoids. The last one has a picture of Jackie Robinson, and the factoid says "The number 42 is the only number retired in all of baseball." Plenty of numbers have been retired within each team. However, Number 42 was globally retired from all teams across Major League Baseball, as a sign of respect and admiration.
Wendell tells Jackie they will go to Sanford, "only 45 minutes away." It would currently take 51 minutes to travel 38.2 miles From Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona to the current Sports Complex in Sanford. on modern two-lane roads. Without knowing the starting and ending point of the drive, there is no way to know the actual drive time on older roads.
About 1hr 15min into the movie, when the Dodgers are playing the Phillies the first time and Robinson records his first out, the scoreboard shows bottom of 4th inning with one hit apiece, yet the lead-off batter is starting off the inning for the Dodgers. If there has been a hit, the second batter in the lineup should start the inning.
It is possible to get a hit and get thrown out, like hitting a single, then being thrown out while trying to steal a base. That way, a hit can be recorded while the batter is still out.
When Pee Wee Reese shows the threatening letter to Mr. Rickey, the door behind Pee Wee says "Private" backward because the lettering is on the other side of the window. The "R" in Private is facing the right way, when it should be backward.
Wendell and other characters type on manual typewriters throughout the film. Every sentence and every name begins with a capital letter, yet none of the characters ever presses the 'shift' key (very noticeable on a manual typewriter).
In the game against the Phillies when Chapman is harassing Jackie, Jackie gets a hit in his third at-bat. Once he's on first base, the pitcher throws over once, then Jackie steals second on the first pitch, which the batter swings at and misses. The catcher overthrows second, and Jackie runs to third. The next shot shows a new hitter coming up, meaning the first batter struck out after one pitch.
In Robinson's major league debut game, the home plate umpire wears a Balloon Protector. The umpire, Babe Pinelli, wore an inside protector, like almost all National League umpires.
The scene in which Pee Wee Reese puts his arm around Jackie at a game in Cincinnati occurred in 1948, not 1947.
Music comes from the car radio as soon as the switch clicks. Car radios had vacuum tubes until the mid 1950s, and needed to warm up for 5 or 10 seconds before any sound was produced.
As the minor league team bus approaches the rural gas station, a caption says "Interstate 24". The Interstate system started in 1956. The road is most likely US Highway 24, which runs east-west through Kansas City.
In Rickey's office, just before the call about Durocher, paper is in his message tray, and a post-it is attached to the clipping. Post-it notes were invented in 1977.
Someone says Robinson stole 29 bases in 1947 without being caught. The National League did not record failed attempts (caught stealing) until 1951.
Halfway through the movie, when Wendell and Jackie are driving in New York, they are going west on 34th street. The Empire State Building and the New Yorker are on the same side of the street. In real life, the New Yorker is across the street.
When Burt Shotton introduces himself to the Dodgers as the new manager, the team is wearing their gray "road" uniforms and standing in the visiting clubhouse of the Polo Grounds, the Giants' home ballpark. He asks who the Dodgers are playing, and someone replies "The Giants," which Shotton should already know.
Cairo, Georgia is pronounced "KAY-row", not "KYE-row" like the capital of Egypt.