Yesterday was Jackie Robinson Day; it was in commemoration of the day that he first took the field as a Dodger. I love this day, I am so proud every time I am at a ballpark and I see that 42 hanging on the wall (since 1997 #42 has been retired by all major league teams) Jackie Robinson was born in Georgia and moved to Los Angeles as a child. He was an outstanding student-athlete and lettered in four sports at UCLA and got medals in two others. He did not finish at UCLA due to financial hardship, and like many of the poor, Jackie enlisted in the Army and served as a second lieutenant, he was granted an honorable discharge after being arrested by the Military Police for refusing to sit in the back of a segregated bus in Texas.
Jackie then signed with the legendary Kansas City Monarchs before being scouted by the Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey, I think a special thanks is due to him, he carefully sought a candidate to help him break the color barrier, the candidate had to be from a background that was open to scrutiny, he needed to be skillful enough not to just compete but excel, he needed to be old enough to have a strong mental attitude, but young enough to be open to suggestion, Branch Rickey found all these qualities in 28 year old Jackie. He called Jackie to his office and explained his plans and he laid out a stipulation as part of the contract, it was, for two years after Jackie signed he was not allowed to retaliate to any verbal or physical abuse he was given by anyone on or off the field, to test him out Branch Rickey spent an hour in his office calling Jackie every name in the book, to see how he would react. It was this agreement that I believe shaped the public perception of Jackie that endures to this day. However it was this same agreement that many attribute Jackie’s later physical problems and early demise, it was widely agreed that the stress of these early years changed him. In his first year Jackie received the newly created “rookie of the year” award and the dodgers lost the series in seven games to the Yankees, the Dodgers won the pennant again in 1949, a year in which Jackie won the National league MVP, the Dodgers won the pennant again in 1952 and 53, and finally won the series in 1955, a series in which Jackie stole Home in game one at Yankee stadium. He would steal home a total of 19 times. Jackie was an all star six years in a row and had a lifetime batting average of .311 toward the end of the 1956 season there was talk of trading Jackie to the Giants however he chose to retire rather then to consent to such an indignity.
Jackie spent his retirement as a director for the NAACP, wrote a syndicated column often addressing racial issues, and help found and direct several philanthropic endeavors, including a scholarship fund and a construction company dedicated to low cost housing for the poor. Jackie Robinson died on October 15, 1972, nine days after attending a world a series game in which he expressed that "I'd like to live to see a black manager, I'd like to live to see the day when there's a black man coaching at third base" Jackie Robinson had hoped to be that person however it didn’t happen for another three years. In 1997 the number 42 was retired by all Major League teams, the rule was grandfathered in and the last player to wear the 42 is Yankee Mariano Rivera.
In 2007 Ken Griffey Jr. asked Miss Robinson if he could wear number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson he wore the number along with several other players including the complete rosters of several teams the most notable being the Dodgers. I was there it was beautiful, there were a lot of famous people in attendance including the widow Rachel Robinson, Hammerin Hank Aaron. Ernie Banks, Dave Winfield, Don Newcombe, Tommy Lasorda, and Major league Baseballs first black manager Frank Robinson (no relation)
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