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Revision as of 14:58, 30 May 2007 by 216.11.202.122 (talk) (→Post-baseball life)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) became the first African-American professional baseball player of the modern era in 1947. While not the first African American professional baseball player in history, his Major League debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers ended approximately eighty years of baseball segregation, also known as the baseball color line. The Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Robinson in 1962 and he was a member of six World Series teams. He earned six consecutive All-Star Game nominations and won several awards during his career. In 1947, Robinson won The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award and the first Rookie of the Year Award Award. Two years later, he was awarded his first National League MVP Award. In addition to his accomplishments on the field, Jackie Robinson was also a forerunner of the Civil Rights Movement. He was a key figure in the establishment and growth of the Freedom Bank, an African-American owned and controlled entity, in the 1960s. He also wrote a syndicated newspaper column for a number of years, in which he was an outspoken supporter of Martin Luther King Jr. and, to a lesser degree, Malcolm X. Template:MLB HoF Robinson engaged in political campaigning for a number of politicians, including the Democrat Hubert Humphrey and the Republican Richard Nixon.
In recognition of his accomplishments, Robinson was posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
On April 15, 1997, the 50 year anniversary of his debut, Major League Baseball retired the number 42, the number Robinson wore, in recognition of his accomplishments both on and off the field. In 1950, he was the subject of a film biography, The Jackie Robinson Story, in which he played himself. He became a political activist in his post-playing days.
In 1946, Robinson married Rachel Annetta Isum. In 1973, after Jackie died, Rachel founded the Jackie Robinson Foundation.
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Post-baseball life
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Awards and recognition
- According to a poll conducted by Jimmie Fidler in 1947, Robinson was the second most popular man in the country, behind Bing Crosby.
- In March 1984, President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded Robinson the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- In 1987, Major League Baseball renamed the Rookie of the Year Award the Jackie Robinson Award in his honor.
- On April 15, 1997, Jackie Robinson's #42 was retired by Major League Baseball, meaning that no future player on any major league team could wear it. Players wearing #42 at the time, some of whom said they did so as a tribute to Robinson, were allowed to continue wearing it, thereby grandfathering the number's retirement. The only player currently wearing the number is New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.
- In 1999, he was named by Time Magazine on its list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
- In 2000, he ranked number 44 on The Sporting News's list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
- On October 29, 2003, the United States Congress posthumously awarded Robinson the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award the Congress can bestow. Robinson's widow accepted the award in a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda on March 2, 2005.
- At the November 2006 groundbreaking for a new New York Mets ballpark, Citi Field, scheduled to open in 2009, it was announced that the main entrance, modeled on the one in Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field, will be called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Additionally, Mets owner Fred Wilpon said that the Mets and Citigroup would work with the Jackie Robinson Foundation to create a Jackie Robinson Museum and Learning Center in lower Manhattan, as well as fund scholarships for "young people who live by and embody Jackie's ideals."
60th anniversary tribute
On April 15, 2007, the 60th anniversary of Robinson's major league debut, Major League Baseball invited players to wear the number 42 just for that day to commemorate Robinson. The gesture was the idea of Cincinnati Reds outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr., who first sought Rachel Robinson's permission, and, after receiving it, asked Commissioner Bud Selig for permission. Selig extended the invitation to all major league teams. Ultimately, more than 200 players wore number 42, including the entire rosters of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Pittsburgh Pirates. Considering that the Phillies and the Cardinals had probably inflicted the most abuse on Robinson when he came up to the major leagues, it was considered quite a tribute that their entire teams chose to wear his number to honor him.
See also
- List of first black Major League Baseball players by team and date
- DHL Hometown Heroes
- List of African American firsts
Notes
- Rothe, p544
- ^ Williams, Michael W.- Editor. An African American Encyclopedia. 1993.
- MLB.com
- http://www.fulton.k12.ga.us/teacher/stratton/robinson2.html
- TIME 100: Jackie Robinson
- "METS HONOR ROBINSON AT NEW HOME". New York Daily News. 2006-11-14. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Griffey, Jr., others to wear No. 42 as part of Jackie Robinson Day Tribute". MLB. 2007-04-05. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "A Measure of Respect for Jackie Robinson Turns Into a Movement". New York Times. 2007-04-13. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
References
- Rampersad, Arnold. Jackie Robinson, a Biography, Alfred A. Knopf (New York), 1997. ISBN 0-679-44495-5
- Tygiel, Jules. Baseball's Great Experiment, Oxford (USA), New York, ISBN 0195106199
- Bigelow, Barbara Carlisle, ed. Contemporary Black Biography vol. 6. Gale Research Inc. 1994. ISBN 0-8103-8558-9
- Moritz, Charles, ed. Current Biography Yearbook 1972, H.W. Wilson Co, New York, 1972. ISBN 0-8242-0493-X
- Rothe, Anna, ed. Current Biography, Who's News and Why 1947, H.W. Wilson Co, New York, 1948.
- MLB.com - http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nyy/history/retired_numbers.jsp
- Journal of Sports History - http://thejournalofsportshistory.org/history-of-baseball/jackie-robinson-a-triple-threat.html
- Robinson, Jackie. I Never Had It Made. G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1972
- Robinson, Sharon. Promises To Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America Scholastic, 2004.
- Thorn, John. "Our Game" pp1-10 In Total Baseball: The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball 7th ed. John Thorn et al eds. Total Sports Publishing, New York, 1992
- Williams, Michael W.- Ed. An African American Encyclopedia 1993.
- Frommer, Harvey. Jackie Robinson Watts Press, 1984.
External links
- Official Website of Jackie Robinson
- Jackie Robinson Foundation Website
- archives.gov Correspondences with the White House
- baseballhalloffame.org Baseball Hall of Fame page
- baseball-reference.com Baseball statistics
- Jackie Robinson (entry in the New Georgia Encyclopedia)
- loc.gov Library of Congress Robinson collection
- Template:Nndb name
- Template:Find A Grave
| Preceded byNone, first holder of the award | Major League Rookie of the Year 1947 |
Succeeded byAlvin Dark |
| Preceded byStan Musial | National League Most Valuable Player 1949 |
Succeeded byJim Konstanty |
| Preceded byStan Musial | National League Batting Champion 1949 |
Succeeded byStan Musial |
| Major League Baseball All-Century Team | |
|---|---|
| Pitchers | |
| Catchers | |
| Infielders | |
| Outfielders | |
- 1919 births
- 1972 deaths
- African American baseball players
- African American basketball players
- African Americans' rights activists
- American Methodists
- American military personnel of World War II
- Baseball Hall of Fame
- Baseball players who have hit for the cycle
- Baseball Rookies of the Year
- Brooklyn Dodgers players
- Congressional Gold Medal recipients
- Jackie Robinson
- Major League Baseball announcers
- Major league second basemen
- Major league players from Georgia
- Negro League baseball players
- National League All-Stars
- National League batting champions
- People from Georgia (U.S. state)
- People from Pasadena, California
- People from Brooklyn
- People from New York City
- People from Stamford, Connecticut
- Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
- UCLA Bruins football players
- UCLA Bruins men's basketball players
- United States Army officers
- University of California, Los Angeles alumni