[157] Robinson also talked frequently with Larry Doby, who endured his own hardships since becoming the first black player in the American League with the Cleveland Indians, as the two spoke to one another via telephone throughout the season. on May 7, 1938. When Jackie was just a young infant, his father abandoned the family and left Mallie to raise the children alone. [167] In addition to his improved batting average, Robinson stole 37 bases that season, was second place in the league for both doubles and triples, and registered 124 runs batted in with 122 runs scored. . Under the terms of the retirement, a grandfather clause allowed the handful of players who wore number 42 to continue doing so in tribute to Robinson, until such time as they subsequently changed teams or jersey numbers. [284] Robinson was among the 25 charter members of UCLA's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984. I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me all I ask is that you respect me as a human being. [249] After supporting Richard Nixon in his 1960 presidential race against John F. Kennedy, Robinson later praised Kennedy effusively for his stance on civil rights. [66][69] When Robinson later confronted the investigating duty officer about racist questioning by the officer and his assistant, the officer recommended Robinson be court-martialed. [301] After Griffey received her permission, Commissioner Bud Selig not only allowed Griffey to wear the number, but also extended an invitation to all major league teams to do the same. [50] In the spring, Robinson left college just shy of graduation, despite the reservations of his mother and Isum. [48] In 2002, Molefi Kete Asante included Robinson on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans. Since 1997, only Wayne Gretzky's number 99, retired by the NHL in 2000, and Bill Russell's number 6, retired by the NBA in 2022, have been retired league-wide in any of the four major sports. [250] Robinson was angered by the 1964 presidential election candidacy of conservative Republican Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, who had opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. [273], After Robinson's death, his widow founded the Jackie Robinson Foundation, and she remains an officer as of 2021. "[257][258] This wish was only fulfilled after Robinson's death: following the 1974 season, the Cleveland Indians gave their managerial post to Frank Robinson (no relation to Jackie), a Hall of Fame-bound player who would go on to manage three other teams. [164], Racial pressure on Robinson eased in 1948 when a number of other black players entered the major leagues. Muchnick. [162][163] The following autumn, Robinson won his only championship when the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in the 1955 World Series. In 1968, he suffered a heart attack. [306] It honors Robinson with large quotations spanning the inner curve of the facade and features a large freestanding statue of his number, 42, which has become an attraction in itself. Jackie Robinson. She became an assistant professor at the Yale School of Nursing and director of nursing at the Connecticut Mental Health Center. In the mid-1940s, Branch Rickey, club president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, began to scout the Negro leagues for a possible addition to the Dodgers' roster. Based on . Washington, Strode, and Robinson made up three of the team's four backfield players. [280] In 1999, he was named by Time on its list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. [243][253] In 1968 he broke with the Republican party and supported Hubert Humphrey against Nixon in that year's presidential election. Despite the success of these two Robinsons and other black players, the number of African-American players in Major League Baseball has declined since the 1970s. [232] Although Robinson adopted an insulin injection regimen, the state of medicine at the time could not prevent the continued deterioration of Robinson's physical condition from the disease. [19][20][21], In 1935, Robinson graduated from Washington Junior High School and enrolled at John Muir High School (Muir Tech). He lost the weight during training camp, but dieting left him weak at the plate. [299] The tribute was continued in 2008, when, during games on April 15, all members of the Mets, Cardinals, Washington Nationals, and Tampa Bay Rays wore Robinson's number 42. [162], Robinson had what was an average year for him in 1952. During Robinson's first at bat, the Jersey City catcher, Dick Bouknight, demanded that Sandel throw at Robinson, but Sandel refused. "[186] He finished the season with 106 runs scored, a batting average of .335, and 25 stolen bases. Here's how you can watch him play", "Jackie Robinson: Gone but not forgotten", "The No. MLB also adopted a new annual tradition, "Jackie Robinson Day", for the first time on April 15, 2004, on which every player on every team wears No. He was the youngest of five children born to Mallie (McGriff) and Jerry Robinson, after siblings Edgar, Frank, Matthew (nicknamed "Mack"), and Willa Mae. Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. [171], In 1950, Robinson led the National League in double plays made by a second baseman with 133. Weary of constant disagreements with O'Malley, and with no hope of being re-appointed as President of the Dodgers, Rickey cashed out his one-quarter financial interest in the team, leaving O'Malley in full control of the franchise. [162] By then, he had begun to exhibit the effects of diabetes and to lose interest in the prospect of playing or managing professional baseball. [163] He also kept the Dodgers in contention for the 1951 pennant. Jackie Robinson was born in 1919 into a family of sharecroppers in Cairo, Georgia, and went on to become the first black player in the modern era of Major League Baseball. [148][194], In 1954, Robinson had 62 runs scored, a .311 batting average, and 7 steals. [302] Ultimately, more than 200 players wore number 42, including the entire rosters of the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Pittsburgh Pirates. From gang member to world-famous baseball player, Jackie Robinson helped break down barriers for African American athletes, proving that they can not only compete, but excel, in a variety of sports. [135] Robinson became the first player since 1884 to openly break the major league baseball color line. [241], On June 4, 1972, the Dodgers retired his uniform number, 42, alongside those of Roy Campanella (39) and Sandy Koufax (32). [293] This affected players such as the Mets' Butch Huskey and Boston's Mo Vaughn. [134] On April 15, Robinson made his major league debut at the relatively advanced age of 28 at Ebbets Field before a crowd of 26,623 spectators, more than 14,000 of whom were black. [265] After his discharge, he struggled with drug problems. [84] In all, Robinson played 47 games at shortstop for the Monarchs, hitting .387 with five home runs, and registering 13 stolen bases. [322] The New York Public School system has named a middle school after Robinson,[323] and Dorsey High School plays at a Los Angeles football stadium named after him. [149][150] Rickey later recalled that Chapman "did more than anybody to unite the Dodgers. [305], At the November 2006 groundbreaking for Citi Field, the new ballpark for the New York Mets, it was announced that the main entrance, modeled on the one in Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field, would be called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. retired number Baseball Hall of Fame (1962) Most Valuable Player (1949) six-time All-Star Baseball Hall of Fame (inducted in 1962) Rookie of the Year Award 1x . [26] In late January 1937, the Pasadena Star-News newspaper reported that Robinson "for two years has been the outstanding athlete at Muir, starring in football, basketball, track, baseball and tennis. April 13, 2010. [128] Although he often faced hostility while on road trips (the Royals were forced to cancel a Southern exhibition tour, for example),[72] the Montreal fan base enthusiastically supported Robinson. The school also announced it would prominently display the number at all of its athletic venues. Although the team enjoyed ultimate success, 1955 was the worst year of Robinson's individual career. He was the youngest of five children. Sources point to various reasons for Robinson's departure from UCLA. Before Jack and I moved to Montreal, we had just been through some very rough treatment in the racially biased South during spring training in Florida. After Robinson left the army, Rickey, the then-GM of the Brooklyn Dodgers, saw Jackie play for the Kansas Monarchs. [35][64], An event on July 6, 1944, derailed Robinson's military career. [162] The Dodgers improved on their performance from the year before, winning the National League pennant before losing the 1952 World Series to the New York Yankees in seven games. "[144][145][146][147] Woodward's article received the E. P. Dutton Award in 1947 for Best Sports Reporting. Larry Doby (who broke the color barrier in the American League on July 5, 1947, just 11 weeks after Robinson) and Satchel Paige played for the Cleveland Indians, and the Dodgers had three other black players besides Robinson. [299] The gesture was originally the idea of outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., who sought Rachel Robinson's permission to wear the number. [310][311] At Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, a statue of Robinson was introduced in 2017. [236], In his first year of eligibility for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962,[73] Robinson encouraged voters to consider only his on-field qualifications, rather than his cultural impact on the game. Dodgers sportscaster Vin Scully later noted that the incident showed "how much of a competitor Robinson was. [185], Despite Robinson's regular-season heroics, on October 3, 1951, the Dodgers lost the pennant on Bobby Thomson's famous home run, known as the Shot Heard 'Round the World. In December 1956, the NAACP recognized him with the Spingarn Medal, which it awards annually for the highest achievement by an African-American. Jesse Jackson gave the eulogy. [192][193] Robinson also openly criticized segregated hotels and restaurants that served the Dodger organization; a number of these establishments integrated as a result, including the five-star Chase Park Hotel in St. [30][31] In 1938, he was elected to the All-Southland Junior College Team for baseball and selected as the region's Most Valuable Player. [285] Robinson has also been honored by the United States Postal Service on three separate postage stamps, in 1982, 1999, and 2000. 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