The ball is slowly climbing higher and is picking up speed. It’s gone. Jackie Robinson, an African American man, has hit his first homerun in white dominant baseball. Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. He grew up in Pasadena. He played in the Negro Leagues. He also made his way to the Major Leagues. Overcoming his childhood and the Negro and Minor Leagues, Jackie Robinson became a well-known legend in the Major Leagues. Jackie Robinson spent all of his childhood in Pasadena, California. “Jackie grew up in a house on 121 Pepper Street in Pasadena” (Rampersad 19). Mallie is Jackie's mother who would raise him after his dad left. His sister, Willa Mae, did almost everything for him when he was younger. Jack started …show more content…
In 1935, Jackie graduated Washington Junior High and later attended John Muir Technical High School, where some of his other siblings also attended. In high school, Jackie sang in the glee club and played many sports such as baseball, broad jump, high jump, football, basketball, track, pole vault, and tennis. Robinson was very competitive. Ray Bartlett, one of Jackie’s teammates, said, “He liked to be the best, and he would be unhappy at school the day after we lost. He took losses very hard. The rest of us might shrug off a loss, but Jack would cry if we lost” (Rampersad 37). Jackie graduated on January 31, 1937 on his eighteenth …show more content…
Jackie's biggest highlight was in his first at-bat. He was thrown out at first by a very close play. He earned his first hit off a bunt the next day. On April 22, The Dodgers played the Phillies. The Phillies coach, Ben Chapman, began making racial remarks at Jackie during the game. He eventually was in trouble for it and ended up taking a picture with Robinson. A Pirates pitcher, Fritz Ostermueller, hit Jack in the head. Jack fell to the floor in pain. Jack also had many hitting streaks. At the end of the season, Jackie finished with a .297 batting average, twelve home runs, forty-eight RBIs, and he lead the league in stolen bases with twenty-eight (Rampersad 185). Jackie was given the first Rookie of the Year Award in baseball and had a spectacular postseason as the Dodgers managed to win the