If you watch any baseball games today, you may be confused when you see all the players wearing the same jersey number: 42.
Don't be. It's Jackie Robinson Day.
Sixty six years ago today, on April 15th 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first player of color to set foot on a major league baseball diamond. But this is only part of the story.
Robinson had a stellar athletic career, not just in baseball. While at UCLA, he was the first athlete to letter in four different sports (baseball, football, basketball and track). He won the NCAA long jump championship in 1940. While in the Army, he did his Rosa Parks impersonation when he refused to move to the back of a unsegregated bus line. Brought up on court martial charges, he was eventually acquitted by an all-white panel. He actually only played one season in the Negro Leagues, leading the league in batting with a .414 average. On that same team were future fellow Hall-of-Famers Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson.
Funny thing...that team didn't even win the championship that year.
Around 1945, GM Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers started scouring the Negro Leagues for a possible addition to his ball club. Part of the reason that he chose Robinson was not just because of his talent, but because of his temperament. Knowing the racial abuse that Robinson would have to deal with, the real question that Rickey was asking was, "...do you have the guts not to fight back?" They reached an agreement that Robinson would not retaliate for the first two years. In his one year in the minor league International League , he led the league with a .349 average and was selected the league Most Valuable Player.
Don't be. It's Jackie Robinson Day.
Sixty six years ago today, on April 15th 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first player of color to set foot on a major league baseball diamond. But this is only part of the story.
Robinson had a stellar athletic career, not just in baseball. While at UCLA, he was the first athlete to letter in four different sports (baseball, football, basketball and track). He won the NCAA long jump championship in 1940. While in the Army, he did his Rosa Parks impersonation when he refused to move to the back of a unsegregated bus line. Brought up on court martial charges, he was eventually acquitted by an all-white panel. He actually only played one season in the Negro Leagues, leading the league in batting with a .414 average. On that same team were future fellow Hall-of-Famers Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson.
Funny thing...that team didn't even win the championship that year.
Around 1945, GM Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers started scouring the Negro Leagues for a possible addition to his ball club. Part of the reason that he chose Robinson was not just because of his talent, but because of his temperament. Knowing the racial abuse that Robinson would have to deal with, the real question that Rickey was asking was, "...do you have the guts not to fight back?" They reached an agreement that Robinson would not retaliate for the first two years. In his one year in the minor league International League , he led the league with a .349 average and was selected the league Most Valuable Player.
When he got to the bigs, there were teams such as the St. Louis Cardinals, that threatened to strike if Robinson played. Think about you playing in the field and having racial epithets yelled at you, tobacco juice spit in your face and being spiked on a regular basis. Despite this, he batted .297 (175 hits), led the league with 29 stolen bases and won the inaugural Rookie of the Year award, which is now called the Jackie Robinson Award.
For his ten year career, he had a career batting average of .311, was a six time All-Star and was a first ballot Hall-of-Fame selection in 1962. His #42 is the only number that has been retired by the entire league.
For his ten year career, he had a career batting average of .311, was a six time All-Star and was a first ballot Hall-of-Fame selection in 1962. His #42 is the only number that has been retired by the entire league.
The only other athlete with that type of juice is hockey player Wayne Gretzky.
Robinson has also been recognized outside of baseball. In December 1956, the NAACP recognized him with the Spingarn Medal, which it awards annually for the highest achievement by an African-American. President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded Robinson the Presidential Medal of Freedom on March 26, 1984, and on March 2, 2005, President George Bush gave Robinson's widow the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award bestowed by Congress. Robinson was only the second baseball player to receive the award.
Jackie Robinson just didn't make Black History. He made American History. All by having the guts not to fight back. Dr. King would be proud.
Yo G. I'm not exactly the grammer and spelling nazi. I just had to drop this on you from your most recent blog. The word you are looking for is "epithet" not "epitaph". Epithet- a disparaging or abusive term or phrase. Epitaph- an inscription on a tombstone refering to the person buried there. The more you know........ Just keeping it mass comm baby!!! Shour boy K! (That's was my Jay-Z impersonation) LOL!
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