Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson, born Jack Roosevelt Robinson, is known for being the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball. He was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia as the grandson of a slave. He was the youngest of five children and at six months old his father left them. At this time, because it was so hard for African-Americans in the south, his mother Mallie Robinson decided to move them to Pasadena, California where it was easier for African-Americans to live and find jobs.

At this time Jackie was very into sports so this move made him pretty upset. He played baseball, basketball, football, and ran track while attending the University of California, Los Angeles. He was one of the top players on the football team as well as the only athlete to letter in four different sports. Unfortunately, Jackie left college before getting a chance to graduate due to financial problems but not before meeting his future wife Rachel. After his departure from UCLA he began working for the National Youth Administration at a work camp but it soon closed down and in 1941 he joined the Honolulu Bears, a professional football team in Honolulu, Hawaii.

He was then drafted into the U.S. Army where he was refused admission to the Officer Candidate School. He fought this until he was finally accepted and graduated as a first lieutenant. He was in the Army from 1941 until 1944 and was stationed in Kansas and Fort Hood, Texas. While stationed in Kansas he worked with a boxer named Joe Louis in order to fight unfair treatment towards African-Americans in the military and when training in Fort Hood, Texas he refused to go to the back of the public bus and was court-martialed for insubordination. Because of this he never made it to Europe with his unit and in 1944 he received an honorable discharge.

After his departure from the Army he joined the Kansas City Monarchs, an all African-American baseball team, of the Negro League. Due to low pay and constant traveling, he decided he did not want to make baseball a career although he was one of the top players. Until 1947 only white players were allowed in Major League Baseball but in 1945 Clyde Sukeforth, a scout for Branch Rickey who was the Brooklyn Dodgers club president, had been looking for an African-American player and was watching Jackie for a while. Rickey signed Jackie to play for the Dodger's minor league team named the Montreal Royals. Jackie was emotionally tired but he enjoyed and appreciated all the support from the fans in this Canadian city because it was so different from the verbal abuse he had before experienced.

Jackie Robinson was 27 years old with an extremely bad temper when he finally began playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Rickey went to Jackie with an agreement. He simply asked him to try to control his temper for the first few years and he even called him bad names in which he knew would be yelled Jackie's way in order for him understand the kind of abuse he would be facing. With that, Jackie Robinson agreed and this was the beginning of a very big change in baseball history.

Jackie played his first game on April 15, 1947 playing first base. He played first base for his entire rookie year but most of his career was spent playing second base. There were many games where he also played third base and outfield. Jackie had so far kept his agreement with Rickey until during a game the umpire said to him, "go back to the jungle you little nigger!" when this caused him to punch the umpire in the face. After this incident many of the Dodger players felt uncomfortable playing with Jackie and told Dodger management that they would rather strike then play with a black man like Jackie. This madness ended once management told the players that if they truly felt that way they were more than welcome to look for jobs elsewhere.

Jackie became close friends with fellow teammate Pee Wee Reese. In a game with Cincinnati, the players started yelling things to Jackie and then to Pee Wee. Pee Wee heard one of the players yell, "How can you play with this nigger?" so Pee Wee walked over to Jackie who was standing at first base, smiled and put his arm around him. The two then became known as a defensive team but of course the harassment did not stop there.

Both players and fans continued to verbally harass him. Some pitchers threw balls at him; sometimes even at his head; baserunners attempted to cut him with their cleats. One team in particular, the Philadelphia Phillies, were extremely abusive with the support of their manager Ben Chapman. When the Dodgers played the Phillies on April 22nd, the Phillies players continuously yelled at Jackie making upsetting remarks at him. It was not long after that Baseball Commissioner, A. B. "Happy" Chandler I, admonished the Phillies and asked Jackie to pose for a picture with Chapman. He thought it would make good publicity. Although neither Jackie nor Chapman refused, it was something neither of the two truly wanted to do.

Jackie