Dad? Who was Jackie Robinson?

60 years ago today, on April 15th, 1947, Jackie Robinson played in his first major league baseball game.
I learned about Jackie Robinson from my Dad, back when Henry Arron was chasing Babe Ruth's record.
My kids learned about him from me, when his number went up over right field at Fenway Park.
Please, tell your kids about Jackie.
"A life is not important, except in the impact it has on other lives." ~ Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson - Wikipedia
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson

Jackie Robinson, National Baseball Hall of Fame
www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/robinson_jackie.htm

The Jackie Robinson Foundation - www.jackierobinson.org

TIME 100: Jackie RobinsonHe thrilled fans, shattered baseball's color barrier and changed the face of the nation.
www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/robinson01.html

Baseball and Jackie Robinson (American Memory from the Library of Congress)
www.memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/robinson/

ESPN.com: Jackie changed face of sport.
www.espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016431.html

on edit: If you watch a major leauge baseball game today, you'll see tributes to Jackie Robinson, including the wearing of 42, his retired jersey number, by player/s on every team.

It's gonna be tough to catch a baseball game today - six of them have already been postponed due to inclement weather.

The ESPN Sunday night game however is on the West Coast, so I doubt we'll have any bad weather impacting THAT game.

I think it's the Dodgers and the Padres.

Nice touch.

A world class athlete, and human being. I can't imagine a man or woman alive today who could do what this man did, and tolerate what this man tolerated with the dignity he displayed. The way Mr. Robinson lived his life made it possible for my children NOT to have to tolerate being treated unfairly. Baseball is a better game and the world is a better place because Jackie Robinson lived.

I'm certain your daughters would enjoy it.

Of course, it's the Daytona newspaper, so it's not like they could ignore it!

http://www.news-journalonline.com/special/jackierobinson/

thanks for sending that along to us

My Dad used to talk about him. Funny, I don't remember the context of how they met, but I know it was long after Robinson retired from baseball.

One of the things my father used to say about him, that I don't think you hear much about in the bios and press, is that Robinson became a somewhat bitter person as a result of some of his experiences in the majors.

Jackie was not bitter about a damn thing. He used to appear on the Ch-9 "Knothole Gang" with Happy Felton after Dodger home games at Ebbets Field, encouraging the kids.

He was a tough competitor. He was by far the most intelligent player of his era. Martin Luther King always claimed that Jackie was his inspiration as a young man.

He took a tremendous amount of abuse during his first 3 years, but then he started to fight back. He knew he had a mission, an obligation to set the way for all those who followed.

The Jackie Robinson story is not just about Jackie. It's about Branch Ricky, the Dodger GM who signed home up.

It's about the great Dodger shortstop, Pee Wee Reese, a Kentucky gentleman who put his arms around Jackie on the field to show his support as the opposing dugout heaped abuse.

It's about Red Barber, the Dodger announcer, a Mississippian who came to love and respect Jackie, and in so doing overcame his prejudices.

It's about Leo Durocher, his first manager (and later arch-enemy as the manager of the 1951 Giants), who told the bigots on the Dodgers that they either accept Jackie or they would soon be gone.

It's about all the other great black players who never had the chance to play in the Major Leagues.

It's about a time in America when we had real heroes, not the hypocritical hatemongers who are paid millions by the corrupt corporate media to spread the lies of Bush Co.

:hi:

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

:kick:

He was very hostile to Muhammad Ali during the draft controversy. I admire what he did in baseball. And he was supportive of Joe Louis and Ray Robinson when they worked to integrate the military. But I think he was bitter in his later years.

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=9a3658e2-44a5-48ec-940a-b5af7e6bc6ea&p=Source_Countdown&t=c1149

Well done, KO!!

The Pasadena Jackie Robinson grew up in was one of the most racially stratified cities in America at that time. Muir High School was effectively segregated from the children of the cities' Anglo-Saxon ruling elite, who had imposed one of the countries first standardized testing programs; Muir was built for the children of the African-American, Japanese, Armenian, and non-Anglo-Saxon European communities.

See http://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Good-Community-1875-2000-Schooling/dp/0820457795/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6839989-9487835?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176670986&sr=8-1 .

:kick: