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Saturday, 16 April 2016 16:00

Number 42 - A Pioneer For the Integration of Baseball

By | Sports

Born January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia, Jackie Robinson became the first black player in the major leagues in 1947, signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Throughout his decade-long career with the Dodgers, Robinson made advancements in the cause of civil rights for black athletes. In 1955, he helped the Dodgers win the World Series. He retired in 1957 with a career batting average of .311. Robinson died in Connecticut in 1972.

 

The significance of his legacy is well known and what he did was amazing.

 I saw the movie “42,” a couple of years ago, and what he went through was a story unrelated to the game of baseball.  It had nothing to do with his accomplishments as a baseball player - being the first African American in Major League Baseball - which was by far his biggest achievement. After watching the movie, I found it disheartening to see how many players, managers and fans were down right disrespectful with their mean spirited comments and antics. What Jackie Robinson experienced was scenario of misguided hate - baseless because of skin color. In my opinion, some of what was done to him was due to a fear, of what could and would develop from the first black athlete becoming a player in America’s favorite pastime. He opened the door for other African American baseball players, as well as all of the professional sports.

 

In retrospect, after being signed by Brooklyn, Robinson, at first, lived as a lonely man while playing for the Dodgers. Mostly in his early years with Brooklyn he roomed by himself, and at first, there was very little communication with his fellow teammates and manager. Clyde Sukeforth, interim manager, at that time, for suspended manager Leo Durocher, felt pressured to play Robinson and was encouraged to do so by Branch Rickey, team president.  Rickey's legacy goes deeply into the archives of Major Leagues, he was responsible for the development the farm system (the minor leagues), and before going with Brooklyn he was an important cog in the St. Louis Cardinals organization for 25 years. But Branch Rickey was highly criticized in some quarters for integration of Major League Baseball.

 

Some history on Jackie Robinson: The youngest of five children, he was raised in relative poverty by a single mother. He attended John Muir High School and Pasadena Junior College in California, where he was an excellent athlete and played four sports: football, basketball, track, and baseball. He was named the region's Most Valuable Player in baseball in 1938. Robinson's older brother, Matthew, inspired Jackie to pursue his talent and love for athletics. Matthew won a silver medal in the 200-meter dash‹- just behind Jesse Owens -‹at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

  

Jackie continued his education at UCLA, where he became the university's first student to win varsity letters in four sports. In 1941, despite his athletic success, Robinson was forced to leave UCLA just shy of graduation due to financial hardship. He moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he played football for the semi-professional Honolulu Bears. His season with the Bears was cut short when the United States entered into World War II. 

 

From 1942 to 1944, Robinson served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. He never saw combat, however. During boot camp in 1944 in Fort Hood, Texas, Robinson was arrested and court-martialed after refusing to give up his seat and move to the back of a segregated bus when ordered to by the driver. Court-martialed? Robinson's excellent reputation, combined with the united efforts of friends, the NAACP and various black newspapers, shed public light on that injustice. He was ultimately acquitted of the charges and received an honorable discharge. His courage and moral objection to segregation were precursors to the impact he would have in major league baseball.

 

In 1944, Robinson began to play baseball professionally. At that time the sport was segregated, African-Americans and whites played in separate leagues. Robinson began playing in the Negro Leagues, but he was soon chosen by Rickey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, to help integrate major league baseball. He joined the all-white Montreal Royals, a farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1946. Robinson later moved to Florida to begin spring training with the Royals, and played his first game in Ebbets Field for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947‹becoming the first black player to compete in the major leagues. (Today is the 69th anniversary of that first game). This information comes from research on biography.com.  

 

Others who defended Jackie Robinson's right to play in the major leagues include National League President Ford Frick, Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler, Jewish baseball star Hank Greenberg and Dodgers shortstop and team captain Pee Wee Reese. In one incident, while fans harassed Robinson from the stands, Reese walked over and put his arm around his teammate, a gesture that has become legendary in baseball history.

 

Jackie Robinson succeeded in putting the prejudice aside, and showed everyone what a talented player he was. In his first year, he hit 12 home runs and helped the Dodgers win the National League pennant. That year, Robinson led the National League in stolen bases and was selected as Rookie of the Year. He continued to wow fans and critics alike with impressive feats, such as an outstanding .342 batting average during the 1949 season. That year, he also led in stolen bases that year and earned the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award.  His success in the major leagues opened the door for other African-American stars, such as Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron.

 

I called Robinson a pioneer, because of the courage he had to be America's first African American in Major League Baseball. Part of his legacy was that he rarely responded to the many innuendoes and insults that were flung his way. In my opinion, this makes Robinson an American hero, for persevering during a time in our country when professional athletics was predominately white.  He obviously had a mission to prove the worth of his race in athletics. I know he was preceded by Jesse Owens, in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, in front of Hitler, but that was track and it was on the international stage. Baseball, in 1947, was totally America's favorite pastime, and second to none. Times are obviously different now, even though the game of baseball is still popular and considered by many people as America's favorite pastime, today's national professional sports scene is bigger than ever with the NFL, NBA, NHL and the PGA. Pick one as a favorite, and you'll have something to debate with some diehard baseball fans. In the past 40 years we, as a nation, have many choices for our favorite sports and teams, not to mention the gender differences in athletics, which is a whole other topic.

 

If you look at the number of African American athletes in professional sports, using peripheral vision of days gone by, Jackie Robinson was as much of a pioneer as the “Westward ho" movement of the mid 1800s. Plenty of credit should go to Branch Rickey, a man who had an insight into the future. For Rickey to stick his neck out - knowing he would be subject to criticism and hate - was courageous. The reality of this was something that had to happen, and I believe once the door was pushed open there was obviously no going back.  

 

Sports fans and all people in America can be proud of those who were willing to put themselves out on a limb to create change. Robinson and Rickey are American icons for their courageous gamble 69 years ago.

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