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Jackie Robinson: The First Black Player In Major League Baseball

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In 1946 fans were very excited for the baseball season to begin because this would be the first time the world would lay eyes on a black player in Major League Baseball (MLB). Jackie Robinson, the first black baseball player, was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. Georgia was a place where racism and oppression was very prevalent and it made life very difficult for the Robinson family. What made life even harder was that Jerry Robinson, Jackie’s father, ran away from home and left Jackie’s mother, Mallie, with five children and almost no money (Robinson 4). Jackie was determined to help his mother in any way possible. He ended up helping not only his mother but all black baseball players to come. Jackie Robinson was faced by much …show more content…

This was the beginning of his athletic career. From the start there was prejudice and racist remarks towards Jackie but he let all of them roll right off his back and excelled at all sports he participated in. After college Jackie Robinson went to Hawaii to play for the Honolulu Bears football team. Jackie Robinson left Hawaii just days before Pearl Harbor was bombed, on the boat the captain said that the USA has declared war on Japan. At that moment Jackie told himself that he is prepared to serve his country with honor in the war(Robinson 12). After the war Robinson went to play in the Negro Leagues and was one of the best players in the league. Simultaneously the Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey was looking to have an experiment and bring black players into the MLB. This was a lofty goal but Rickey felt that if he found the right man for the job it would be a great league changing succes. One player that caught his eye was Jackie Robinson so he sent out a scout to watch him play. The scout reported that he was more than talented enough for the job. So a meeting between Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson was set up. Rickey told Robinson that he had three criteria that the first black baseball player must have. The first was skill to play the game, second was the composure to never lose his temper, the third was to be able to play under any amount …show more content…

Jackie showed that people of all races and ethnicities can get along and play competitively without being prejudice towards each other. Hank Aaron, another black baseball player, said this about Jackie “I’ve always looked at Jackie as some kind of icon… he was a pillar of strength, and gave me a lot of inner strength.” Jackie Robinson was such a pivotal inspirational person that he was able to give this aura of inner strength to not just Hank Aaron but too the hundreds of thousands of black athletes that are now able to compete just like anyone else. There was a path paved into professional sports for African Americans that forever changed the game, and all this change came from one extremely special man Jackie

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144 Words | 1 Pages

Jackie Robinson was the first african american to play professional baseball. He first played in the negro leagues first. Then the president from the brooklyn dodgers gave him a chance. Jackie was a young man that loved baseball. He played other sports but baseball was he loved baseball more.

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729 Words | 3 Pages

Jackie was named the best player in the negro leagues, and now is thought as one of the best players to play the game. Going through all of the horrible things that he did, Jackie's mental strength could almost tackle anything that came across his path. Jackie had setbacks through his baseball career, and they all made an impact. A setback that Jackie had was him being an african american male.

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He paved the way for civil rights by being the first African-American male to play on an all white baseball team. Robinson stood for his moral principles no matter what anyone said. After he integrated baseball, Jackie became a full-fledged leader in the civil rights movement. He traveled across the country in a effort to build morale among African Americans fighting for racial justice in their local communities. Robinson helped many civil rights campaigns in Albany (GA.) and Birmingham.

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517 Words | 3 Pages

No owners, no umpires, very few newspapermen. And I'm afraid that many fans will be hostile. We'll be in a tough position. We can win only if we can convince the world that I'm doing this because you're a great ballplayer, a fine gentleman," said Branch Rickey. After Jackie retired he wanted to help the Civil Rights Movement.

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288 Words | 2 Pages

Jackie Robinson is known to be one of the most influential people in baseball and in society. He eternally changed the aspect of American history. It was unusual to have a colored person be treated equally as a white person during the time of the 1900s. He was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919 and later moved to Pasadena, California to pursue a better life. He came from a poor family of sharecroppers in the South and was the youngest of five.

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768 Words | 4 Pages

This quote explains his first appearance in the MLB as an African American. Jackie Robinson had his mind set on his goal. He did not give up because he was different. Although he encountered many hardships, he continued to try his hardest and eventually joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. This fits in with what I know because people today are still bashed for their race.

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714 Words | 3 Pages

Jackie Robinson was someone who changed and impacted baseball history. On April 15th 1947, he became the first African American player in the major leagues, signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He faced racial abuse and harassment throughout his career but put it aside and showed everyone how talented he really was. Robinson was named Rookie of the Year in 1947, a World Series champion in 1955, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962. He became the vocal champion for African American athletes and civil rights.

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753 Words | 4 Pages

“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” (Jackie Robinson). Being born to sharecropper parents living in Georgia, Jackie Robinson faced racism and hatred early on. He overcame these adversities and became one of baseball 's most historic players for not only his lightning speed on the field, but his courage to break major league baseball 's color barrier. Jackie Robinson was the most influential sports athlete because he changed American society forever.

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Jackie Robinson not only made impacts on the field that were monumental, but he made impacts off the field that were equally as important. Jackie helped presidents get elected, get kids off the streets and into the most prestigious schools there is, and most importantly he broke the black color barrier in baseball. Jackie Robinson is one of the most influential people to ever live, he did things that people would dream about, he stood up for what he believed. To begin, Jackie’s biggest accomplishment was breaking the black color barrier on baseball, “ Jackie Robinson broke through the color barrier that kept blacks out of the Major League Baseball [MLB].

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1486 Words | 6 Pages

Jackie understood that him playing in the major league was bigger than just him playing baseball. It was a step toward the desegregation of baseball and American society and Robinson knew that. Lots of books have been written about not only Robinson’s time in the league but also many on the impact Robinson had on race relations as well as what this meant for the future of African Americans. Jules Tygiel has written a couple books about Robinson and how he was Baseball’s Great Experiment, however he has recently revisited the topic in 2002. Where he reflects on Robinson, race, and the history of baseball.

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1376 Words | 6 Pages

He was a big part in the fight for equal rights. Jackie Robinson took so much abuse on the field because of his race that it gave him mental breakdowns. These breakdowns sometimes took days to recover from but he went through all of that so other people would have better opportunities. But this didn’t just go on for one season, Robinson had to deal with that racism for about two years before he was really accepted as a “respected” baseball player. (Kuhn,web) and (Wilson,web).

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713 Words | 3 Pages

Jackie has been an inspiration to all blacks around the world, for his determination even when times were tough, always standing up for his rights. As said in a past article, “Jackie had a huge part to play in how Americans thought about racial integration.” (Novak) He made Americans realize that African Americans could play with whites in the big leagues and be able to deal with the controversy that comes with it. Some may think otherwise, but Jackie Robinson is a role model for millions of people around the

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471 Words | 2 Pages

He slowly walks at the back of the pack, through the tunnel with number 42 on his back. They walk out and the crowd roars, but not for him. Born January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia, Jackie Robinson came to be one major civil rights activist in MLB Baseball. He was the youngest of five that lived with their mother, Mallie Robinson, in poverty.

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1358 Words | 6 Pages

An icon is a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of something. This man was not only an Icon in baseball, but a civil rights leader, a father of three, and a role model for all young adults. Jackie Robinson was a small town boy who had big-time dreams. He was from a small city in Georgia and always had outstanding athletic abilities. Not only was Jackie a baseball player, but he also played a major role in breaking the color barrier.

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Jackie Robinson has impacted many young baseball players today. He had to of had so much courage to be the first African American MLB player in history. To be able to just ignore every bad thing that was said to him, and keep playing aggressively. I think that from him doing that, it gave other African American players the guts to want to be in the MLB or any ordinary team in general. Some kids are nervous about going to their first practice or game, but I think that since Jackie Robinson was the first African American MLB player, it helped some kids to not be as nervous.

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