Jackie Robinson's Legacy

“Jackie Robinson is perhaps the most historically significant baseball player ever, ranking with Babe Ruth in terms of his impact on the national pastime. Ruth changed the way baseball was played; Jackie Robinson changed the way Americans thought. When Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, more than sixty years of racial segregation in major-league baseball came to an end. He was the first acknowledged black player to perform in the Major Leagues in the twentieth century and went on to be the first to win a batting title, the first to win the Most Valuable Player award, and the first to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He won major-league baseball's first official Rookie of the Year award and was the first baseball player, black or white, to be featured on a United States postage stamp”(swaine,

In 1946 he had his first game against the Royals. Breaking the color barrier (1947) The following year, six days before the start of the 1947 season, the Dodgers called Robinson up to the major leagues. Within his first two years he showed great courage without fighting back, also in his first year he became Rookie of the Year. In the year of 1949 he became MVP. In 1957 he retired from baseball, and in 1962 he got into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1997 he integrated baseball, and his number, 42, was retired.

At one game fans yelled racial slurs and hurtful words to Robinson so Reese walked over and put his arm around his teammate, that moment became legendary in baseball history. In Jackie’s first year, he hit 12 home runs and helped the Dodgers win the National League pennant, he also led the National League in stolen bases and was picked as Rookie of the Year. He amazed fans by having .342 batting average during the 1949 season and earned the National League's Most Valuable Player Award. He was an excellent base runner. Robinson stole home 19 times in his career, setting a record. He became the highest payed player in Dodgers history. Thanks to him his success in the major leagues opened the door for other African-American players. Robinson and his team won the National League pennant several times. Finally, in 1955, he helped them achieve his ultimate victory which was the world series. the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees and Jackie helped the team win another National League pennant that following season, he was then traded to the New York Giants and retired shortly after on on January 5, 1957 with an off the charts batting average of

Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born January 31, 1919. He was born in Cairo, Georgia and was the youngest of five children. He had a grandfather that was a slave, Jackie’s dad was a sharecropper and Mallie, Jackie’s mother, was a maid. His dad ran away from the family when Jackie was only an infant.

Jackie not only accepted the offer he also agreed to Rickey’s one major condition which was that he cannot respond to the hurtful abuse by the angry protestors he would face. After the agreement, Jackie made history in 1947 when he broke baseball’s color barrier to play for the Brooklyn Dodger. Jackie was one talented player, he won the National League Rookie of the Year award in his first season of MLB, and helped bring the Brooklyn Dodgers to the National League championship, which was the first of his six trips to the World Series. In 1949 Robinson won the MLB MVP award, and he was added into

Jackie Robinson is very important to sports industry. Especially the Major League Baseball Association. He was discriminated for the color of his skin, the way he talked, what he wore. He was a role model to many African Americans at this time, and even present day. Everybody in sports look up to him, because if it were not for Jackie, they would not be there. What he did took a lot of courage to do.

Only a few people in American history can say they 've completely changed their respective area of expertise. Jackie Robinson is one of those people. Jackie Robinson not only changed the sport of baseball, but the whole sports world as he braved racism, discrimination and segregation to break the racial and cultural barriers in the sports world.

“Jackie Robinson will always be remembered for his awesome mental toughness. It was incredible how he was able to perform at such a high level on the field while handling the daily insults directed at him… These insults included not only the worst names imaginable” (Ringer) Jackie Robinson was one of the first African Americans to be drafted into the MLB despite the segregation African Americans faced during this time period. Jackie Robinson was a strong influencing African American figure during the social movement to end segregation and was an inspiration for young blacks in the era.

Rickey had been planning on trying to break the color barrier of baseball by bringing an African American baseball player to the Major Leagues. Jackie Robinson joined the Montreal Royals, an all-white baseball team in the Dodgers farm system. Although Jackie deserved to play there, he received hatred and discrimination from the fans and even his teammates. During Jackie’s first year with the Monarchs, he hit .349 which led the league. Even with his talent and success, Jackie was forced to endure harsh racism throughout the country. Much of the harassment came from opposing teams and

Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo Georgia. His parents were Mallie and Jerry Robinson. Jackie's father, Jerry

The Brooklyn Dodgers signed Robinson in 1947. This lead to breaking the racial barrier in baseball and helped open the opportunity for other African Americans to play baseball. He had to face a lot of adversity by people saying very racist sayings like “Negroes don't play baseball” and people calling him a “Nigger,” by fans and managers. Robinson was very humble on and off the field and more white people started to respect him and the African American people. Robinson is the only person to have his number retired throughout the whole league because of his significance to Major League Baseball. Many people have said, “Jackie is

With the same idea as Martin Luther King Jr., he worked hard to stay non-violent and to “turn the cheek” to the many threats and racial slurs he received throughout his time in the Major League. He was the target of many cold-hearted fans, and even some of the players on his own team. He was already born a leader, but these things fueled his fire even more. 5 years after he began playing in the MLB, he testified against discrimination before the House of Un-American Activities Committee and called out the Yankees for not yet breaking the color barrier. Along with that, he also served as a leader on the board of the NAACP until 1967.(www.NAACP.org) There, he made speeches that inspired people to get on board and to fight for their rights and for changes. He said, “Certainly if such revolutionary change can be brought about in baseball, it can be brought about in education, in transportation, and in any other area of American life. (Robinson) He believed that change was just around the corner, and all it needed was a little push. Jackie was a firm believer in his ideas and that is why he is such an important figure in our

Robinson was an undeniably great player who had some of his best years stolen from him. He was a speedster who led his team to six World Series, won Rookie of the Year honors, an MVP award and was a six-time All-Star.

Jackie Robinson was one of the most historically well known people in the civil rights movement. So as the first man to integrate major league baseball, Jackie Robinson had a game changing impact on the way the game was played. Having the courage to fight for what is right, Jackie broke the imaginary color barrier that has covered major league baseball for years. Through his resiliency and tenaciousness in the face of seemingly unconquerable odds, Jackie Robinson set the course for African Americans to continue the expansion for equality and true freedom while he was becoming one of the greatest Major League baseball players in history.

Jackie was a phenomenal athlete for young kids to look up to. After the start of World War II he served in the military from 1942 to 1944. After the war he returned to his love for baseball, playing in the Black major leagues. He was chosen by Branch Rickey, vice president of the Brooklyn dodgers, to help integrate the Major Leagues. Rickey hated segregation just as much as Robinson and wanted to change things “Rickey had once seen a Black college player turned away from a hotel… Rickey never forgot seeing this player crying because he was denied a place to lay his weary head just because of the color of his skin” (Mackenzie). He was finally able to do something about segregation and help change baseball and the United States for the better. It wasn’t that all the teams were racist and didn’t want a black player but when the major league teams had an away game they would rent out the stadium to the black teams for them to play at. And the executives of teams didn’t want to loose the money that they were making off of the black teams. “League owners would lose significant rental revenue” (“Breaking”). He soon signed with the all-white Montreal Royals a farm team for the Dodgers. Robinson had an outstanding start with the Royals, “leading the International League with a .349 batting average and .985 fielding percentage” (Robinson). After Robinson’s outstanding year he was promoted to the Dodgers he played his first game on