By James Desmond, David Hwang, and Kenny Tse
Childhood/Youth
Jackie Robinson (Jack Roosevelt Robinson) was born on January 31, 1919 in Georgia. During this time period. His father Jerry Robinson left the family after Jackie was born. While he was gone Mallie Robinson was left single and struggled to support her 5 children. While Jackie was a child with a lot of free time, he worked many jobs such as running a paper route, cutting lawns, and running several errands for people. He was also involved in mischievousness activities such as the Pepper Street Gang and often stole food at stores to overcome his struggles. After Jackie finished High School at Muir Technical High, he went to UCLA where he earned letters in, football, track, basketball and baseball. He only went to college at UCLA for 2 years. After school he had offers to play football in Honolulu but, he wanted to be in the Army, so he become drafted and went to Officer Candidate School and became a second lieutenant. From there he started to play in the MLB with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.
Baseball Career
Being the first African American major league baseball player, Jackie Robinson had to overcome many adversities such as the racial discrimination on his teams. He penetrated through the Color barrier as he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Many of Jackie's teammates decided to sit out in games if they were to play with Jackie on the same team. Even though he faced harassment in the major league, Jackie excelled in this sport and was able to achieve the award for Rookie of the Year with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In the next few decades he was able to win many other awards such as the MVP award in 1949. He was inducted into both the National and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Jackie's talent was able to bring about ease to the Baseball community. His outstanding statistics such as the .342 in 1949 impressed many who doubted an African-American's ability to play baseball. Jackie Robinson decided to end his baseball career
Random Facts
- In April 1997 50 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, The league honored Jackie Robinson by retiring his jersey number.
- At the end of his career Jackie Robinson was sold to another team.
- Jackie Robinson during his first season in 1947, was also the first year that the league gave out the rookie of the year trophy.
- before signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie spent time in the minor league with the Montreal royals
- When being drafted it was known as the two man draft in that the manager Branch Rickey was influential in his drafting.
- When attending UCLA he was an all around athlete in track, basketball and baseball and even football.
- Jackie Robinson served in the army from the years 1941 to 1944
- Jackie Robinson only stayed in college for 2 years because, he ran out of athletic eligibility
Breaking The Color Barrier/Impact/Influece
Jackie Robinson did not only leave a lasting impression on the fans but also on all players in the MLB league. Playing well in the MLB and making it into the baseball hall of game made Jackie a role model for other African American athletes across the country. While he was in the processing of playing in for the Brooklyn Dodgers, there was still a lot of racism and hatred toward Jackie Robinson for being the first African American baseball player to make it to the Major Leagues. After, he finally proved to the world that African American's can be just as good at the game than from the rest of the players in the MLB. He made it possible for other African Americans to play in the MLB without facing harsh racism and hatred towards them just because, of their skin color. Not only did he encourage African Americans to become professional baseball players, but also encouraged all types of athletes from many different sports. Even though it seemed that Jackie Robinson had it easy once he started to play in the MLB, he actually faced a lot of prejudice thoughts and death threats from baseball fans to officials who were a part of the major league association. But once he started to rack up his stats, the hatred lessened and he soon became a part of the baseball hall of fame for breaking the color barrier and for also being an incredible baseball player.
After Jackie's Baseball Career
After his baseball career, Jackie continued to strive to better civil rights. Jackie became a representative of Chock Full o' nuts coffee company. He also became the first African American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jackie also became a very active supporter of Richard Nixon's campaign during the 1960s, though later regretting he had supported Nixon over Kennedy. On October 24, 1972, Jackie Robinson passed away due to long term Diabetes and heart problems which caused him to die of a Heart Attack. His wife, Rachel (Isum) Robinson formed the Jackie Robinson Foundation honoring all of Jackie Robinson's life works. Jackie Robinson's work still never stops even to this day because, there are thousands of successful African American professional athletes across the country that don't have to face the same discrimination and hatred that Jackie did while playing sports.