Jackie Robinson Biography Essay

Clay Glenn

Ms. Schutzius

English 10

24 February 2015

Jackie Robinson Jackie Robinson had one of the biggest impacts in the history of professional sports as well as the Civil Rights Movement. Jackie Robison was a very important person. He was in the military, had an outstanding MLB career, and was a civil rights activist. He was also the first black person to play in the MLB. Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia on January 31, 1919, and was the youngest of five children. His parents were Jerry and Mallie Robinson. He was raised in Pasadena by his single mother. His older brother, Mack, influenced Jackie to participate in sports. He played football, baseball, basketball, and track and field. At John Muir Technical High School

He then received an athletic scholarship to UCLA. He was the university’s first four letter athlete. He received varsity letters in football, baseball, basketball, and track and field. He played one year of semi-professional football in Hawaii, but his career was cut short when he got drafted into the army. When Jackie joined the army, he planned on becoming an officer. He applied to Officers Candidate School in Fort Riley, Kansas (Rappoport). He was turned down because he was black. Joe Louis, who was a heavyweight boxing champion, was stationed there and heard about what had happened (Rappoport). This got Jackie accepted and his new rank was 2nd Lieutenant. He was often not treated with respect. He eventually court marshaled for not sitting in the back of a military bus and received an honorable discharge. After being discharged, he signed with Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League for $400 a month and he excelled with a .400 batting average (Jackie Robinson). Branch Rickey, who was the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, planned to acquire a black player and chose Jackie Robinson. He wanted to make sure that he would not fight back against white people who make racist comments. Rickey held a meeting for Robinson and gave him different racist scenarios that he might encounter. At the end of the meeting, Rickey recited a bible verse about turning the other

It was called “The Noble Experiment” by Satchel Paige. Happy Chandler, Ford Frick, and players like Stan Musial supported it and helped prevent strikes and protests (Jackie Robinson). He played just 1 year with the Royals before being called up at the beginning of the 1947 season (Jackie Robinson). He finished his rookie season with a .297 batting average, 29 stolen bases, and won rookie of the year. He was the 1st black person in the World Series. Brooklyn added other black stars like Roy Campenella in 1948 and Don Newcombe in 1949. Robinson’s best season was his 1949 with career bests in batting average, stolen bases, RBIs, and was also the National League MVP. Robinson was a line drive, clutch hitter and was very competitive. The Dodgers won the pennant in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1956. They won the World Series in 1955 with Robinson stealing home in game 1. He retired in 1956 and was inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 1962. His career numbers are .311 batting average, 197 stolen bases, National League hitting champ once, was the stolen base champ twice, 6 pennants, and 1 World