It
has finally happened. Jackie Robinson has broken the unofficial color barrier.
He has become the first African-American player to participate in major league
baseball. Robinson made his first career start at first base for the Brooklyn
Dodgers on a historical night set for the record books. It did not matter that
he did not get a hit or that the Dodges won the game 5-3 over the Boston Braves.
Jackie Robinson played and that was all that mattered.
Jackie Robinson did not do this overnight. It
took nearly 77 years, but it finally happened. Baseball has been segregated
since the 1880’s, forcing African-American players to form the Negro leagues
for only African-Americans. Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn
Dodgers, wanted to change that. In a gutsy move, he offered a contract to
Jackie Robinson, only after being assured that Jackie would not fight back
against the people against any of the naysayers. He prepared him by calling
Jackie every racial slur he could think of as he practiced to make sure Jackie
was tough enough to not fight back. Rickey knew that if he fought back, it
would not work. He is hoping to encourage other teams to take African-American
players as well. Obviously Jackie has not fought back and passed his grueling
test.
Jackie joined the Dodgers farm team, the Montreal Royals,
in 1946 and proceeded to lead the league in batting. A few days before this
1947 season started, Robinson was called up to the big leagues. The normal
second baseman got the start at first and adapted well. It does not matter that
he was hitless, it is the fact that over 14,000 African-Americans flocked to
the game to see history happen. Mark this date on your calendars folks.
26,623fans were here on April, 15 1947. Remember this day as one that will live
on in infamy. This is a historic day in baseball and will be remembered for
years to come.
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