Jackie Robinson, A Brooklyn Dodger

Jackie kept his composure in the nation’s spotlight. Once 1947 came around, Jackie Robinson was officially a Brooklyn Dodger. Some players did not adapt well to the idea of a Negro baseball player on their team and even signed petitions to either get him off the team or to demand to be traded. Burt Shotton, manager of the dodgers at the time, called a meeting and told the players if they did not want to cooperate they were not going to be traded but dropped from the team which in turn ended the protest. Even the Brooklyn Dodgers general manager, Leo Durocher told his players that he would rather trade all of his white players before he traded Jackie Robinson. So Jackie was not alone in his seemingly impossible battle. People had respect for

A man with class is willing to put themselves in other people’s shoes in order to sympathize with others. Jackie Robinson was an empathetic person as well as a select few in the league. An example of this is Hall of Fame first baseman Hank Greenberg in 1947 during a Pittsburgh Pirates and Brooklyn Dodgers game. Robinson had just got on first base and Greenberg said to him, “Don’t let them bring you down. You’re doing fine. Keep it up”. (Jackie Basebal Years) This is a prime example of how during Robinson’s career, Black American integration was evolving in sports and nationwide as well. A very memorable moment in the 1947 season was on May 13th, a game against the Cincinnati Reds where Jackie was getting a substantial amount of racial slurs thrown his way, when shortstop Pee Wee Reese faced the crowd and put his hand upon Jackie Robinsons back symbolizing acceptance from him and many other players as well. Russ Meyer, pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies, stated, “Jackie Robinson was a class guy, he was a guinea pig, and he took a lot of stuff that a common, ordinary white guy would never have taken.” Robinson was a class act, and I believe Russ Meyer nails it on the head when he says “a common, ordinary white guy would never have taken”. I feel that none of us are ever going to be able to truly

Without Jackie Robinson entering the game of baseball, there may have not been a Muhammed Ali, Arthur Ashe, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, or even Tiger Woods. Of course the possibility of another African American taking the throne and leading the fight for African rights through the game of baseball is justified but Jackie’s timing in the movement was impeccable. So impeccable, that it empowered others to stand up in a time of oppression. “All of us had to wait for Jackie,” said pitcher Joe Black. Joe Black says it well, Jackie Robinson is more than an African American baseball player, he was the beacon of light that sprouted the growth of blacks in the game of baseball, and sports nationwide. Even President’s gave credit to Jackie’s accomplishments. President Ronald Reagan stated, “He struck a mighty blow for equality, freedom and the American way of life, Jackie Robinson was a good citizen, a great man, and a true American champion.” Once his career was over, he did not quit pushing for Black American success. He became a vocalist for Black rights and became an analyst for major league baseball. He was hired by ABC to go on television for miscellaneous things and was the first Black vice president of an American corporation, Chock Full O’ Nuts, and helped establish the Freedom National Bank. Jackie also joined the board