Major League Baseball Celebrates Jackie Robinson

Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Robinson Cano all don the number 42

Bronx, NYC– 66 years ago Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers took a chance with Negro-League standout Jackie Robinson as he signed him to the Dodgers because he thought that Jackie Robinson could withstand the inevitable racial abuse that would be directed at him. In a famous three-hour exchange on August 28, 1945, Rickey asked Robinson if he could face the racial animus without taking the bait and reacting angrily – a concern given Robinson’s prior arguments with law enforcement officials at PJC and in the military. Robinson was aghast: “Are you looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back?” Rickey replied that he needed a Negro player “with guts enough not to fight back.”  After obtaining a commitment from Robinson to “turn the other cheek” to racial antagonism, Rickey agreed to sign him to a contract for $600 a month, equal to $7,322 today. Six days before the start of the 1947 season, the Dodgers called Robinson up to the major leagues. Most fans are unaware that Jackie Robinson played his initial major league season as a first baseman, not second base.  On April 15, 1947, Robinson made his major league debut at Ebbets Field before a crowd of 26,623 spectators, including more than 14,000 black patrons. Jackie Robinson was the first african-american player in major leagues  as he broke the color barrier in baseball. The Georgia native died in 1972 at the age of 53, 25 years after his retirement from the game he changed forever. Robinson changed the game and he opened the door for every single african-american player in the league today, we remember the great Jackie Robinson on this April 15th and we look back at what he means to the sport.

Jackie Robinson stealing home in the World Series against the New York Yankees, until this day Yogi Berra says Robinson was out!