Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson, who integrated Major League Baseball in 1947, was born to a sharecropping family in Cairo, Georgia, on this day in history, Jan. 31, 1919.
His fight for racial equality and his exploits on the field of play made him the first athlete in North American sports to have his jersey number (42) retired by every team in his game.
Among many achievements off the diamond, Robinson was an incredible four-sport star at UCLA. He was widely considered one of the most exciting college football players of his era. Plus, he served in the U.S. Army in World War II, where he first stood up for racial equality.
“His mother, Mallie Robinson, singlehandedly raised Jackie and her four other children. They were the only Black family on their block, and the prejudice they encountered only strengthened their bond,” says Jackie Robinson.com, the official website of the late sports legend.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, JAN. 30, 1933, ‘THE LONE RANGER DEBUTS, TROTTING INTO AMERICAN CULTURAL LORE
“From this humble beginning would grow the first baseball player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier that segregated the sport for more than 50 years.”
Robinson stepped on the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, after excelling for the franchise’s Montreal farm team in 1946.
“It was the most eagerly anticipated debut in the annals of the national pastime,” authors Robert Lipsyte and Pete Levine wrote in “Idols of the Game.”
“It represented both the dream and the fear of equal opportunity, and it would change forever the complexion of the game and the attitudes of Americans.”
“It was the most eagerly anticipated debut in the annals of the national pastime.” — Robert Lipsyte and Pete Levine in ‘Idols of the Game’
Robinson played well enough that season to earn National League Rookie of the Year honors and win over fans nationwide.
His presence changed baseball, opening the floodgates for it to become the diverse multinational sport it is…
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