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History was made on April 15, 1947.
On that day, Jackie Robinson became the first African American in the twentieth century to participate in Major League Baseball. His decision to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers took great courage. At that time, many white players and fans were violently opposed to the integration of baseball. But Robinson had promised Branch Rickey, who was the president of the Dodgers, that he would not respond to attacks, whether they were verbal or physical. There were plenty of attacks.
Some of Robinson’s own teammates signed a petition protesting his hiring. Some spectators shouted insults from the stands. Opposing pitchers threw balls at his head, and players slid into his base with their spikes aimed at him. Threatening letters were delivered to the locker room. But Jackie Robinson kept his promise to Branch Rickey. As hurt and angry as he sometimes felt, he did not fight back—except by hitting the ball as hard and as far as he could and by stealing bases.
In keeping his promise, Jackie Robinson showed he was not only a great baseball player, but a great man.
▲ Jackie Robinson could hit hard, run fast, field the ball well—and also steal bases like no one else. In his career, he stole home base, a nearly impossible feat, 19 times! His primary position was second base, but he played other positions well. In his first year in major league baseball, Robinson won the Rookie of the Year award. He was voted the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1949. In the ten years he played Major League Baseball, he played in six All-Star games.
◀ Branch Rickey, the man who signed Jackie Robinson to play for the Dodgers, liked doing things differently. He was the first baseball manager to develop a minor league farm system for training young ballplayers. He developed the first full-time spring-training park. He was one of the first to encourage the use of batting cages, pitching machines, and batting helmets. By far, Rickey’s most significant contribution to baseball was signing Jackie Robinson.
When Jackie Robinson integrated Major League Baseball, much of U.S. society was still segregated. The civil rights movement was a decade in the future. But the winds of change were blowing. African American soldiers, including Robinson, had served in a segregated army during World War II. However, in 1948, President Harry Truman signed an order forbidding segregation in the armed forces. ▶
The Dodgers played in Ebbets Field, which opened in 1913, and the last game played there was in 1957, after which the team moved to Los Angeles. Three years later, the stadium was demolished, and apartments now stand on the legendary site. ▼
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