Jackie Robinson Legacy Essay

Leaving A Legacy Jackie Robinson left a lasting impact on Major League Baseball and the lives of many other African Americans. Robinson was more than just a baseball player, he was a man who changed the way Americans thought about the game by ending more than sixty years of segregation. In the small southern town of Cairo, Georgia on January 31, 1919 an american hero by the name of Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born. Robinson was the youngest of his five siblings his mother was Mallie Robinson and his father was Jerry Robinson, who left the family shortly after Jackie was born. After the family was deserted by Jerry in 1920 they moved to Pasadena, California where Jackie would later grow up. Jackie was very talented in athletics which was

At that time the Monarchs were a very successful franchise in the African American League. Jackie, as a rookie, showed amazing power, speed, skill and easily hit over .300. In 1945, on October 23, Jackie signed a contract to the all white Montreal Royals, in the International League. In 1946, when Robinson played the Royals were the top Minor League team for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He lead the International League in 1946 with an average of 40 stolen bases and a .349 batting average. Robinson had a tremendous amount of talent, which didn’t go unnoticed. Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager liked Jackie’s demeanor and style of play. At the time Rickey was looking for someone to integrate baseball, with those kind of qualities, Robinson was the perfect person for the job. He knew that integrating the sport would not be easy but Robinson was up for the challenge and would be able to handle it with no violence. Integration in general had picked up during this time, WWII, people did not believe it was right that African Americans were allowed to die and fight beside that of a White American Soldier but yet weren’t allowed to play a sport with them. Later in 1944, Rickey caught just the break he needed, Kenesaw Mountain Landis the Baseball Commissioner that was against the integration of the sport had

He made his Major League debut in Ebbets Field on April 15, 1947. Robinson had an amazing rookie season, he led the Major League with twenty nine bases stolen, he had a .297 batting average, scored 125 runs, and got 175 hit 12 of which were home runs. 1947 was the first year the Baseball Writers Association of America gave a Rookie of the Year award, and with such an outstanding rookie year, Robinson was the first recipient of the award. At the end of Robinson’s first season, Dixie Walker the right fielder for the Dodgers said, “[Robinson] is everything Branch Rickey said he was when he came up from Montreal”(7). Although he had obvious talent he was still just an African American to many people. Robinson still received many insults, threats, and racial slurs. He kept his word though, Jackie did not react to any of the abuse that he faced. As time passed baseball smoothly became integrated through white goodwill, black achievements such as Robinsons, and public outspokenness. Jackie Robinson’s ten year career with the Dodgers came to an end in 1955 when he lead the team to a World Series victory against the New York Yankees, Robinson later retired from Major League Baseball in 1957. In 1962, Jackie was recognized for the impact he had made on baseball, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of