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Essay about Jackie Robinson
The life and times of Jackie Robinson
Summary on how jackie robinson changed baseball
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Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson
Courage and determination. These two things are hard to find in life, but for some it is the only means of life. For Jackie Roosevelt Robinson, this was his life. Whether its discrimination, cruelty, or undeserved harsh judgment, Jackie Robinson has endured it all. Starting with his early life and concluding with his legacy, we will explore the “life and legend of Jackie Robinson”.
Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 1st, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia (Tygiel). His father left when he was very young, so it was tough on him not having a father figure around. Shortly after he was born, his mother; Mallie Robinson, moved Jackie and his four siblings to Pasadena, California (Tygiel). His teenage years consisted
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This is where the story of Jackie Robinson begins. The owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey, was the man that started it all. In the beginning, Rickey had already been focused on a few candidates to be the first black to play in the major leagues, but in the end his decision would be Robinson. During Robinson’s season with the Royals, Rickey scheduled a seven game series against the Dodgers to showcase Robinson’s talents (Henry). During the series, Jackie batted a .625 average and stole seven bases. Everyone was shocked with this. Rickey confronted Jackie after his season with the Royals, branch knew he was an excellent ballplayer but that wasn’t all he saw in Robinson (Henry). Rickey spoke with Jackie in his office and told him that he was well aware and knew that Jackie could play ball. That wasn’t the problem, the problem was much bigger than talent. The problem was America, and how the world viewed African Americans at the time. Rickey told Jackie that he needed a man who could take abuse and insults for his race (Henry). He needed a man that could keep his cool and his mouth shut when …show more content…
By 1959 every team in baseball had been integrated. One of every five players were African American. Branch Rickey talked of trading Jackie to the New York Giants after the ’56 season, but after hearing of this Jackie chose to retire at age 38. After his retirement Jackie and his wife Rachel Robinson moved to Westchester, New York (Rampersad). Soon after that he joined the NAACP, the national association for the advancement of colored people. He traveled across the country where he built black morale fighting for racial justice in their communities. Jackie became active in business and began working as an activist against segregation. In 1962 Jackie was inducted into the Hall of Fame of baseball. This was his very first year of eligibility, he earned 78% of votes getting 124 out of 160 votes. This was very rare to be inducted in your first year of eligibility but nobody had any second thoughts about him. He deserved it more than anyone else. He had changed the game of baseball forever and had also began to help shape America as a whole. Jackie came back for baseball at the age of 53. He didn’t come back for good, just for about 30 seconds when he threw out the first pitch of the 1972 world-series. This was his final public appearance. He and his wife Rachel moved to California in 1960 where they
Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major-League baseball. His inspiring actions and wise words are remembered even now, and on Jackie Robinson day, all baseball players wear his jersey:“42”. Many biographies have been written, and one biography, The Noble Experiment. Recently, in April 2013, Legendary Motion Pictures released a movie entitled “42”. In many ways, the film and Jackie’s autobiography are alike. However, the are also different in many ways.
Jack Roosevelt Johnson was born in the very segregated south in Cairo, Georgia around 1919. Jackie grew up loving baseball and knew that is what he wanted to do. About two decades before Jackie was born the MLB was split between white and Negro leagues. Jackie being an African-American, of course played for the Negro Leagues. He strived in this sport. He lead the Negro League with most stolen bases and had a great batting average. Both his statistics and love for the game brought the name Jackie Robinson to the attention of the Brooklyn Dodger's manager Branch Rickey.
On December 13, 1956, Jackie was traded from the Brooklyn Dodgers to their arch-nemesis and division rival New York Giants, for Dick Littlefield and $30,000. Instead of accepting the trade and reporting to his new team, Jackie Robinson retired from Major League Baseball. This move made by Jackie Robinson only helped solidify the Dodgers legend, that is Jackie Robinson. In 1962, Jackie Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, an honor that only the best baseball players are selected. The players nominated are not only the best of the best, but they are also recognized for the work in their local communities as well. Jackie Robinson was chosen, because of his monumental accomplishment of not just being the player to break the color barrier in professional sports but the phenomenal player he was as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1991, Jackie was also inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Before Jackie Robinson made his Major League Baseball debut in 1947, he played the previous season with the Dodgers minor league affiliate in Montreal, Canada. Robinson’s astonishing play in Montreal forced Branch Rickey to call Jackie up before the 1947
He spent his whole professional career with the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1947-1956. He put up crazy numbers during his career which led to 6 all-star team selections, a World Series championship, Rookie of the Year, NL MVP, 2 time stolen base leader and a league batting champion. Jackie wore number 42, which was later retired by the MLB. He was later inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962. Jackie Robinson should not only be recognized for his on-field accomplishments, but for what it took for him to get there as well. Throughout all of the racism in America and baseball, he endured it and pushed through it to set himself up for ultimate success. He endured the hardships of being the only African-American in the league at the time and taking all the hate from the racists, while still putting up remarkable numbers. Even as a white man during the time of integration in baseball you could have nothing but respect for Jackie Robinson. Especially if you were a Dodgers fan, considering he did accomplish many things not even the best white baseball players were
(Robinson). This proves that he broke a racial barrier that needed to be broken. Although Jackie faced threats racial slurs and more he got through it and integrated into the MLB and changed his
Jackie Robinson changed baseball in America in the 1940s by breaking the segregation barrier that was bestowed on baseball. Robinson played in the Negro League for the Kansas City Monarchs. In 1945 Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers negotiated a contract with Robinson that would bring Robinson into the major leagues in 1947. Baseball was segregated because of racial intolerance, economic factors, and other complex reasons. The major leagues would rent out their stadiums to the Negro League teams when their own team would be on the road. For example, if the Brooklyn Dodgers were on the road they would rent out their stadium to the Kansas City Monarchs. Major League team owners also knew if they integrated the Majors the Negro League would lose their best players and the Negro League would be lost. Also, the Majors would lose significant revenue.
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.
Jackie Robinson’s ability to successfully integrate his sport set the stage for many others to advocate for an end to segregation in their respective environments. His period of trials and triumphs were significant to changing American perception of the Civil Rights revolution. By becoming the first African-American baseball player to play in the major leagues, he brought down an old misconception that black athletes were inferior to white athletes. Successively, his example would inspire those advocating for their civil rights, he lived out a message of nonviolence similar to the one Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived out. Despite the constant prejudice he faced in his sport, he was able to keep himself composed and never retaliate.
In the film (A Jackie Robinson Story) Branch Rickey, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the time, tells Jackie that he does not want a player who is strong enough to fight back, but a player who is strong enough to not fight back. He wanted Jackie to focus solely on playing the game and not on what the fans had to say about him. Rickey also knew that Jackie would be strong enough to not fight back or get angry when the fans started yelling at him. I think that because Jackie was so strong in his character and stood up for himself and other people of color that he was very successful by the end of his career. Hank Greenberg, the first major Jewish superstar, was highly respected among his fellow Jews however he was not accepted by Americans during this time. Although he was almost always ridiculed every time he stepped up to bat, Greenberg continued to pursue his dreams of being a Major League baseball player. As a Jew, Greenberg participated in many Jewish holidays and religious practices. Some of these practices were required for Greenberg to attend given his religion but because all other baseball players were not Jewish, or practicing the same Jewish holidays that he was, they would not have the conflict of dealing with said holidays. Sometimes baseball games and Jewish holidays would
Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Georgia. On this day, a legend arrived. Jackie was raised by his mother, and his mother alone. His father left before Jackie was born, and he didn’t remember one thing about him. Jackie had many siblings, brothers and sisters.
Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major League Baseball. This was not an easy task for him to do. People judged him and didn’t like him by the color of his skin. Jackie Robinson said “The hate mail piled up” (Robinson). That shows that no one cared to give him a chance to play in the Major League. The innocence of young kids had a great inspiration on Jackie Robinson because they didn’t care about his color they just wanted him to play good. Jackie Robinson was “proud to be a part of a significant breakthrough” (Robinson) in breaking the color barrier. Even though Jackie Robinson has been through
...ame the vice-president for the Chock Full O' Nuts Corporation. He also served on the board of the NAACP. He created the Jackie Robinson Construction Company to build affordable housing for black families that did not have enough money. In the 1970s Jackie Robinson's heath got bad. On Oct. 15, 1972, he attended a World Series game in Cincinnati that celebrated the 25th anniversary of his breaking the color barrier in professional baseball. During pre-game ceremonies he said how he wanted to have a black manager to be hired for a team in major league baseball. Ten days later after the World Series game, Jackie Robinson died of a heart attack at his home in Stamford, Connecticut. Jackie will be remembered for his courage, determination, persistence, integrity, citizenship, justice, commitment, and his excellence. He is an inspiration for many people that have a dream.
... only sports. His controversial first game was a major barrier for black people that he had just broken. At first no white person, except those sympathetic towards blacks, liked the idea of him in baseball and many were willing to do whatever it took to force him out of the league. Jackie was steadfast in not budging and giving to the pressure of fighting back to defend himself. With the help of Branch he could overcome this desire to fight against the people that hated him and wanted him dead and gone. However, after many months of struggling to restrain himself, people began to take his side and root for him. Jackie’s story has inspired many to overcome great obstacles and will continue to do so in the future.
Breaking the Racial Barrier in Baseball Although Jackie Robinson was not the best African-American baseball player of his time, his attitude and ability to handle racist harassment led the way for the rest of his race to play Major League Baseball, amongst other sports. Being accepted into professional sports also helped African-Americans become more easily accepted into other aspects of life. Jackie's impact in the world for the black population is enormous. According to Jessie Jackson, "A champion wins a World Series or an Olympic event and is hoisted on the shoulders of the fans.
To the average person, in the average American community, Jackie Robinson was just what the sports pages said he was, no more, no less. He was the first Negro to play baseball in the major leagues. Everybody knew that, but to see the real Jackie Robinson, you must de-emphasize him as a ball player and emphasize him as a civil rights leader. That part drops out, that which people forget. From his early army days, until well after his baseball days, Robinson had fought to achieve equality among whites and blacks. "Jackie acted out the philosophy of nonviolence of Martin Luther King Jr., before the future civil rights leader had thought of applying it to the problem of segregation in America"(Weidhorn 93). Robinson was an avid member of the NAACP and helped recruit members because of his fame from baseball. Jackie had leadership qualities and the courage to fight for his beliefs. Unwilling to accept the racism he had run into all his life, he had a strong need to be accepted at his true worth as a first-class citizen. Robinson was someone who would work for a cause - that of blacks and of America - as well as for himself and his team.