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Jackie Robinson biography essay
The life and times of Jackie Robinson
The life and times of Jackie Robinson
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Jackie Robinson
Before the Major League
This person is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Born in Cairo, Georgia, Robinson moved with his mother and siblings to Pasadena, California in 1920, after his father deserted the family. At the University of California, Los Angeles, he was a star player of football, basketball, track, and baseball; the only athlete in UCLA history to letter in four different sports. He played with Kenny Washington, who would become one of the first black players in the National Football League since the early 1930s. Robinson also met his future wife, Rachel, at UCLA. His brother Matthew "Mack" Robinson (1912-2000) competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics, finishing second in the 200-meter sprint behind Jesse Owens.
After leaving UCLA his senior year, Robinson enlisted in the US Army during World War II. He trained with the segregated U.S. 761st Tank Battalion. Initially refused entry to Officer Candidate School, he fought for it and eventually was accepted, graduating as a first lieutenant. While training at Fort Hood, Texas, Robinson refused to go to the back of a bus. He was court-martialed for insubordination, and therefore never shipped out to Europe with his unit. He received an honorable discharge in 1944, after being acquitted of all charges at the court-martial.
Jackie played baseball in 1944 for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro American League where he caught the eye of Clyde Sukeforth, a scout working for Branch Rickey.
Number originally retired June 4, 1972 Retired throughout North American baseball April 15, 1997
Jackie Robinson
Position 2B (748 games)3B (356 games)1B (197 games)OF (162 games)SS (1 game)
MLB Seasons 10
Team(s) Brooklyn Dodgers
Debut April 15, 1947
Final Game September 30, 1956
Total Games 1,382 batting1,364 fielding
NL Pennants 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956
World Series Teams 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956
All-Star Teams 1949 (2B),1950 (2B),1951 (2B),1952 (2B),1953 (3B),1954 (OF)
Awards Rookie of the Year (1947)
National League MVP (1949)
NL batting leader(.342 - 1949)
Baseball Hall of Fame (1962)
Nickname
"Jackie"
The Dodgers
Branch Rickey was the club president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and had the secret goal of signing the Negro Leagues' top players to the team. Although there was no official ban on blacks in organized baseball, previous attempts at signing black ballplayers had been thwarted by league officials and rival clubs in the past, and so Rickey operated undercover. His scouts were told that they were seeking players for a new all-black league Rickey was forming; not even the scouts knew his true objective.
Robinson drew national attention when Rickey selected him from a list of promising candidates and signed him.
America’s pastime has been complicated in the last couple centuries, and integration has been a really big key in the game of baseball. Like most of America in the 1940’s, baseball was segregated, whites playing in the Major League system and African-Americans playing in the Negro Leagues. There were many factors that made whites and blacks come together including World War II. Integration caused many downs in the time period but as baseball grew and grew it was one of the greatest accomplishments in the history. It was hard to find the right black man do start this, they needed a man with baseball abilities and a man who didn’t need to fight back.
On January 25, 1938, he was arrested after vocally disputing the detention of a black friend by police.[32] Robinson received a two-year suspended sentence, but the incident—along with other rumored run-ins between Robinson and police—gave Robinson a reputation for combativeness in the face of racial antagonism.[33] While at PJC, he was motivated by a preacher (the Rev. Karl Downs) to attend church on a regular basis, and Downs became a confidant for Robinson, a Christian.[34] Toward the end of his PJC tenure, Frank Robinson (to whom Robinson felt closest among his three brothers) was killed in a motorcycle accident. The event motivated Jackie to pursue his athletic career at the nearby University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he could remain closer to Frank's
Branch Rickey had been around baseball all his life. He was a player, coach, manager, and team owner for over sixty years. Branch Rickey was nominated into baseball’s hall of fame and on his plaque it mentions his signing of Jackie Robinson. Branch Rickey chose Robinson because he knew he would be able to take all the abuse and keep his cool. Also, he knew Robinson was an outstanding ball player. Branch Rickey has always wanted to integrate baseball since early in his career. Rickey was looking for a strong person who would be able to take the public scrutiny, avoid confrontation, and also a talented ball player. Rickey set his eyes on Robinson because he has had experience in integrating other sports. Robinson attended UCLA and lettered in four other sports.
Jackie completed his education at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was the first student at the university to receive varsity letters in four sports. In 1941, Robinson had to leave UCLA because of financial problems just around graduation time. He ended up moving to Honolulu, Hawaii and played football for the Honolulu Bears, but that didn’t last long as the United States entered World War II. Robinson served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army from 1942 to 1944, but was honorably discharged because he refused to sit in the back of a segregated bus during boot camp in 1944.
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.
Whether it was on the football field, on the basketball court, or out on the baseball field, Robinson encountered quite a bit of success wherever he went. (cite) Despite the talents of many African American baseball players, many were deemed inferior to their white counterparts. The sense of inferiority led many baseball players and owners of the teams in the Negro leagues to adjust to the status quo, however, Robinson was not one to simply seek to fulfill the status quo. Robinson was unwilling to conform with what mainstream society tried to force him to conform with, he constantly told his teammates that they should always be ready, someday one of them would be signed to break the color barrier and play in organized ball (cite to pg 48). Unlike many of his peers, he felt a different calling in the sport of baseball.
Number 42 is the famous Jackie Robinson played in major league and broke the color barrier in baseball. Many people do not know but Robison served in the United State Army in 1942-1944. He played football with the Honolulu Bears but the season was cut short when the United States enter the war. During Robison training period he was arrested for not sitting in the back of the bus with his segregated color. His courage and moral objection to segregation was very important to the way he handled and impacted major league baseball (“About Jackie Robison"). Due to his hard attitude Robison became the most famous African American to play ever in the white man game of baseball during this time. Robison became the highest paid player ever, won World Series, and inducted into baseball hall of fame. People believe the war helped him in his career because he could still be playing football with the Bears. Even during the wartime, he did not believe he should be segregated, so people weren’t able to segregate him in a game called baseball (“About Jackie Robison").
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” He says that because he was black in a all white baseball association and they thought he was no good. Next he made an impact on them buying becoming one of the best baseball players to ever live all shut up all the people who doubted him. It had a good impact you can see because more african americans joined the baseball league buy, yet some white folks were still unhappy. He was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, GA and his parents were mallie robinson was his mother, his father was jerry robinson. Education was the university of california,los angeles 1939-1941. Robinson began playing in the Negro Leagues, but he was soon chosen by Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn
...as handled by his courage were the first few years he was signed on to the Brooklyn Dodgers. In the interview between Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey, Dodgers president, said to Robinson:
For example one piece of reasoning is on (“Jim Crow, Meet Lieutenant Robinson: A 1944 Court-Martial”) it says, “There were so many problems with the bus situation that battalion commanders and the company commanders almost let us have trucks at will to go to the town . . . rather than mess with what went on with the bus.”. This shows that he was willing to stay strong and fight for his rights because he wanted his country end segregation so bad he was willing to go to jail for it but luckily he received court martial. Another reason is as shown on (USA Today) and it says, “As a board member of the NAACP, he traveled across the country in an effort to build morale among African Americans fighting for racial justice in their local communities.”. This also shows he had the ability to stay strong and fight for his right because if he was willing to travel across the country to fight for his country that means he really wanted his country to come to peace and end segregation. One last reason you could tell he had the ability to stay strong and fight for his rights is as written on(USA Today), “As a friend of Martin Luther King Jr., Robinson helped to lead civil rights campaigns in Albany (Ga.) and Birmingham.”. This also shows that he had the ability to stay strong and fight for his rights because he was willing to be a leader to lead his country to end segregation. As you can
Jackie Robinson's older brother Mack finished second to Jesse Owens in the 100-meter race in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. His brother was his inspiration. He inspired him to do what he loved. His brother had a big part in helping his achieve his goal. Mack inspired him to fight for what ...
Jackie played one season in 1945 for the Negro Baseball League. He traveled all of U.S. with the Kans...
In 1947 Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers desperately wanted Robinson to play for him and his team. He would become the first black MLB player since 1889 when baseball became discriminated. In his first year he was the Rookie of the Year. He debuted in the International League with the Montreal Royals. This the led to Branch’s interest in Robinson since he was considered one of the best players in the International League and considering it was his first time playing with white men.
For a long time, it was assumed that blacks were not allowed to play in the Major Leagues simply because they had not for so long. When Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the commissioner of baseball at the time, declared that there was no rule preventing integration of the Major Leagues, the idea of an African-American joining the league was realized for the first time by a lot of people. In 1943, Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the time, had an idea though to be outrageous by many during that period. He considered signing some black players to make up for the wartime shortage of talent. He narrowed down the list of prospects, searching for the best player to integrate baseball. The likely choices for talent would have been Satchel Paige or Josh Gibson. Rickey, however, wanted not only a star but a person who could deal with the harassment from the public, some teammates, and the overall opposition. Knowing of Jackie's talent and his hate for segregation, Rickey set up an interview hoping he could convince Robinson to sign a contract. When Rickey told Robinson why he had been brought to see him, Jackie's reaction was a combination of several emotions. "I was thrilled, scared, and excited.
...anged those around him and changed the way people lived their lives. Robinson was someone who worked for a cause not only for himself, but also for his fellow Negroes, and his country. His work for civil rights not only came when he had to provoke a change for his advancement, but even after he had advanced, he did not forget his fellow Negroes. His acts in the 1950's, 1960's and shortly in the 1970's has helped and influenced America to end segregation and racism in the world.