Jackie robinson biography summary

At the time, Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey was scouting the Negro Leagues, looking for players who not only had the talent but the demeanor to withstand the pressures associated with integrating Major League Baseball. It is said that during the interview, Rickey demanded that Robinson not respond when on the receiving end of racial abuse.

His performance both on and off the field earned him a call-up to Brooklyn the following season. His debut with the Dodgers in was greeted with a lot of attention—not all of it positive. Although Robinson quickly proved he belonged as a player, the color of his skin was an issue for opposing teams and fans. Hearing racist taunts from fans and players prior to a game, Dodgers teammate Pee Wee Reese is said to have put his arm around Robinson on the field to indicate that he was accepted by those wearing a Brooklyn uniform.

Still, Robinson endured racist obscenities, hate mail and death threats for much of his career. It was his play in the field that ultimately silenced his critics. Despite having been signed by the Dodgers at the relatively old age of 28, Robinson would go on to hit. He became the first Black player to win the National League Most Valuable Player Award in , when he led the league in hitting with a.

Robinson was an All-Star every year from Nobody wants to quit when he's losing; nobody wants you to quit when you're ahead. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life. Edelman, Charles Williams and Franklin H. Williams, Mrs. President George W. Bush and the leadership of the United States Congress presented the award to Rachel Robinson during a ceremony held in the Capitol Rotunda on March 2, Skip to content.

Early Life and Gateway into Sports Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, , in Cairo, Georgia, the son of a sharecropper and the grandson of former slaves. Baseball Career Stats. An exceptional base runner, Robinson stole home 19 times in his career, setting a league record. Before he retired, he also became the highest-paid athlete in Dodgers history.

Over the course of his MLB career, from to , Robinson had a. This means, just with Robinson in their lineup, the Dodgers won almost 64 more games than they would have with a replacement-level player instead. In his decade-long career with the Dodgers, Robinson and his team won the National League pennant several times. Finally, in , he helped them achieve the ultimate victory: winning the World Series.

After failing before in four other series matchups, the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in seven games. Robinson helped the team win one more National League pennant the following season. In December , Robinson was traded to the New York Giants, but he never played a game for the team. He retired on January 5, After baseball, Robinson became active in business and continued his work as an activist.

The couple married on February 10, As Robinson forged his career in the major leagues, the couple faced mounting racism, from insults to death threats. Jackie and Rachel had three children together: Jack Robinson Jr. Rachel said that she and Jackie went to great lengths to create a nurturing home that sheltered their kids from racism. In , the couple mourned the death of their oldest child, Jack, who was in a car accident.

Jack had been the assistant regional director of Daytop Inc. He suffered shrapnel injuries in combat while trying to rescue a friend that later died. Robinson was a vocal champion for Black athletes, civil rights, and other social and political causes, serving on the board of the NAACP until In , he publicly called out the New York Yankees as a racist organization for not having broken the color barrier five years after he began playing with the Dodgers.

In his later years, Robinson continued to lobby for greater racial integration in sports. Robinson was close friends with Martin Luther King Jr. Rickey selected Robinson from a list of promising black players and interviewed him for possible assignment to Brooklyn's International League farm club , the Montreal Royals. Although he required Robinson to keep the arrangement a secret for the time being, Rickey committed to formally signing Robinson before November 1, The best was Josh Gibson.

I think that's one of the reasons why Josh died so early—he was heartbroken. Rickey's offer allowed Robinson to leave behind the Monarchs and their grueling bus rides, and he went home to Pasadena. Karl Downs. Clay Hopper , the manager of the Royals, asked Rickey to assign Robinson to any other Dodger affiliate, but Rickey refused. Robinson's presence was controversial in racially segregated Florida.

He was not allowed to stay with his white teammates at the team hotel, and instead lodged at the home of Joe and Dufferin Harris, a politically active African-American couple who introduced the Robinsons to civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. In Sanford, Florida , the police chief threatened to cancel games if Robinson and Wright did not cease training activities there; as a result, Robinson was sent back to Daytona Beach.

After much lobbying of local officials by Rickey himself, the Royals were allowed to host a game involving Robinson in Daytona Beach. Robinson thus became the first black player to openly play for a minor league team against a major league team since the de facto baseball color line had been implemented in the s. Later in spring training, after some less-than-stellar performances, Robinson was shifted from shortstop to second base , allowing him to make shorter throws to first base.

On April 18, , Roosevelt Stadium hosted the Jersey City Giants ' season opener against the Montreal Royals , marking the professional debut of the Royals' Jackie Robinson and the first time the color barrier had been broken in a game between two minor league clubs. Although Sandel induced Robinson to ground out at his first at bat, Robinson ended up with four hits in his five at bats ; his first hit was a three-run home run in the game's third inning.

In , the Dodgers called Robinson up to the major leagues six days before the start of the season. With Eddie Stanky entrenched at second base for the Dodgers, Robinson played his initial major league season as a first baseman. Black fans began flocking to see the Dodgers when they came to town, abandoning their Negro league teams. Robinson's promotion met a generally positive, although mixed, reception among newspapers and white major league players.

The brewing mutiny ended when Dodgers management took a stand for Robinson. Manager Leo Durocher informed the team, "I do not care if the guy is yellow or black, or if he has stripes like a fuckin' zebra. I'm the manager of this team, and I say he plays. What's more, I say he can make us all rich. And if any of you cannot use the money, I will see that you are all traded.

Robinson was also derided by opposing teams. Louis Cardinals threatened to strike if Robinson played and spread the walkout across the entire National League. The reporter, concerned about protecting Hyland's anonymity and job, in turn leaked it to his Tribune colleague and editor, Stanley Woodward , whose own subsequent reporting with other sources protected Hyland.

Those who do it will encounter quick retribution. All will be suspended and I don't care if it wrecks the National League for five years. This is the United States of America and one citizen has as much right to play as another. Dutton Award in for Best Sports Reporting. Even The Sporting News , a publication that had backed the color line, came out against the idea of a strike.

Robinson nonetheless became the target of rough physical play by opponents particularly the Cardinals. At one time, he received a seven-inch gash in his leg from Enos Slaughter. When he poured out that string of unconscionable abuse, he solidified and united thirty men. However, Robinson received significant encouragement from several major league players.

Robinson named Lee "Jeep" Handley , who played for the Phillies at the time, as the first opposing player to wish him well. Color is not one of them. Following an incident where Greenberg collided with Robinson at first base, he "whispered a few words into Robinson's ear", which Robinson later characterized as "words of encouragement".

Robinson finished the season having played in games for the Dodgers , with a batting average of. He had hits scoring runs including 31 doubles , 5 triples , and 12 home runs, driving in 48 runs for the year. Robinson led the league in sacrifice hits , with 28, and in stolen bases, with Robinson became the first black player to play in the World Series.

He appeared in all seven games, with the Dodgers ultimately losing in Game 7. Following Stanky's trade to the Boston Braves in March , Robinson took over second base, where he logged a. Robinson had a batting average of. Louis Cardinals on August 29, , he hit for the cycle —a home run , a triple , a double , and a single in the same game. Racial pressure on Robinson eased in when a number of other black players entered the major leagues.

Larry Doby who broke the color barrier in the American League on July 5, , just 11 weeks after Robinson and Satchel Paige played for the Cleveland Indians , and the Dodgers had three other black players besides Robinson. Between the tours, he underwent surgery on his right ankle. Because of his off-season activities, Robinson reported to training camp 30 pounds 14 kg overweight.

He lost the weight during training camp, but dieting left him weak at the plate. In the spring of , Robinson turned to Hall of Famer George Sisler , working as an advisor to the Dodgers, for batting help. At Sisler's suggestion, Robinson spent hours at a batting tee, learning to hit the ball to right field. Sisler taught Robinson to anticipate a fastball, on the theory that it is easier to subsequently adjust to a slower curveball.

Robinson also noted that "Sisler showed me how to stop lunging, how to check my swing until the last fraction of a second". The tutelage helped Robinson raise his batting average from. Summer brought an unwanted distraction for Robinson. Robinson was reluctant to testify, but he eventually agreed to do so, fearing it might negatively affect his career if he declined.

In , Robinson led the National League in double plays made by a second baseman with He finished the year with 99 runs scored, a. Robinson's Hollywood exploits, however, did not sit well with Dodgers co-owner Walter O'Malley , who referred to Robinson as "Rickey's prima donna ". Weary of constant disagreements with O'Malley, and with no hope of being re-appointed as President of the Dodgers, Rickey cashed out his one-quarter financial interest in the team, leaving O'Malley in full control of the franchise.

Robinson was disappointed at the turn of events and wrote a sympathetic letter to Rickey, whom he considered a father figure, stating, "Regardless of what happens to me in the future, it all can be placed on what you have done and, believe me, I appreciate it. Before the season, O'Malley reportedly offered Robinson the job of manager of the Montreal Royals, effective at the end of Robinson's playing career.

O'Malley was quoted in the Montreal Standard as saying, "Jackie told me that he would be both delighted and honored to tackle this managerial post"—although reports differed as to whether a position was ever formally offered. During the season, Robinson led the National League in double plays made by a second baseman for the second year in a row, with During the last game of the regular season, in the 13th inning, he had a hit to tie the game and then hit a home run in the 14th inning, which proved to be the winning margin.

This forced a best-of-three playoff series against the crosstown rival New York Giants. Despite Robinson's regular-season heroics, on October 3, , the Dodgers lost the pennant on Bobby Thomson 's famous home run, known as the Shot Heard 'Round the World. Overcoming his dejection, Robinson dutifully observed Thomson's feet to ensure he touched all the bases.

Dodgers sportscaster Vin Scully later noted that the incident showed "how much of a competitor Robinson was. Robinson had what was an average year for him in He did, however, record a career-high on-base percentage of. He believed that everything unpleasant that happened to him happened because of his blackness. Afterward, Robinson played variously at first, second, and third bases, shortstop, and in the outfield , with Jim Gilliam , another black player, taking over everyday second base duties.

Robinson's interests began to shift toward the prospect of managing a major league team. In , Robinson had runs, a. That year, he served as editor for Our Sports magazine, a periodical focusing on Negro sports issues; contributions to the magazine included an article on golf course segregation by Robinson's old friend Joe Louis. In , Robinson had 62 runs scored, a.

His best day at the plate was on June 17, when he hit two home runs and two doubles. He hit. The Dodgers tried Robinson in the outfield and as a third baseman , both because of his diminishing abilities and because Gilliam was established at second base. That season, the Dodgers' Don Newcombe became the first black major league pitcher to win twenty games in a year.

In , Robinson had 61 runs scored, a. The trade, however, was never completed; unbeknownst to the Dodgers, Robinson had already agreed with the president of Chock full o'Nuts to quit baseball and become an executive with the company. Robinson's major league debut brought an end to approximately sixty years of segregation in professional baseball, known as the baseball color line.

After World War II, several other forces were also leading the country toward increased equality for blacks, including their accelerated migration to the North , where their political clout grew, and President Harry Truman 's desegregation of the military in Civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King Jr. Beginning his major league career at the relatively advanced age of 28, he played only ten seasons from to , all of them for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Robinson's career is generally considered to mark the beginning of the post—"long ball" era in baseball, in which a reliance on raw power-hitting gave way to balanced offensive strategies that used footspeed to create runs through aggressive baserunning. He scored more than runs in six of his ten seasons averaging more than runs from to , had a.

Historical statistical analysis indicates Robinson was an outstanding fielder throughout his ten years in the major leagues and at virtually every position he played. Assessing himself, Robinson said, "I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me But he didn't just come to play. He came to beat you. He came to stuff the damn bat right up your ass.

Robinson portrayed himself in the motion picture The Jackie Robinson Story. Robinson once told future Hall of Fame inductee Hank Aaron that "the game of baseball is great, but the greatest thing is what you do after your career is over. Airport police asked Robinson to leave, but he refused. The following January, approximately 1, people marched on New Year's Day to the airport, [ ] [ ] which was desegregated shortly thereafter.

In his first year of eligibility for the Baseball Hall of Fame in , [ 59 ] Robinson encouraged voters to consider only his on-field qualifications, rather than his cultural impact on the game. From to , Robinson was the vice president for personnel at Chock full o'Nuts ; he was the first black person to serve as vice president of a major American corporation.

Jackie robinson biography summary

Robinson was active in politics throughout his post-baseball life. He identified himself as a political independent, [ ] [ ] although he held conservative opinions on several issues, including the Vietnam War he once wrote to Martin Luther King Jr. Kennedy , Robinson later praised Kennedy effusively for his stance on civil rights. Robinson protested against the major leagues' ongoing lack of minority managers and central office personnel, and he turned down an invitation to appear in an old-timers' game at Yankee Stadium in Despite the success of these two Robinsons and other black players, the number of African-American players in Major League Baseball has declined since the s.

After Robinson's retirement from baseball, his wife Rachel Robinson pursued a career in academic nursing. Robinson's eldest son, Jackie Robinson Jr. Robinson Jr. Robinson did not outlive his son by very long. In , he suffered a heart attack. Complications from heart disease and diabetes weakened Robinson and made him almost blind by middle age.

On October 24, , Robinson died of a heart attack at his home at 95 Cascade Road in North Stamford , Connecticut; he was 53 years old. Jesse Jackson gave the eulogy. This parkway bisects the cemetery in close proximity to Robinson's gravesite. After Robinson's death, his widow founded the Jackie Robinson Foundation , and she remains an officer as of On June 4, , the Dodgers retired Robinson's uniform number, 42, alongside those of former teammates Roy Campanella 39 and Sandy Koufax It was the first statue the Dodgers ever unveiled.

In , Robinson was named by Time on its list of the most influential people of the 20th century. Baseball writer Bill James , in The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract , ranked Robinson as the 32nd greatest player of all time strictly on the basis of his performance on the field, noting that he was one of the top players in the league throughout his career.

The City of Pasadena has recognized Robinson with a baseball diamond and stadium named Jackie Robinson Field in Brookside Park next to the Rose Bowl , [ ] and with the Jackie Robinson Center a community outreach center providing health services. Major League Baseball has honored Robinson many times since his death. On April 15, , Robinson's jersey number, 42, was retired throughout Major League Baseball, the first time any jersey number had been retired throughout one of the four major American sports leagues.

Under the terms of the retirement, a grandfather clause allowed the handful of players who wore number 42 to continue doing so in tribute to Robinson, until such time as they subsequently changed teams or jersey numbers. The Yankees' Mariano Rivera , who retired at the end of the season, [ ] [ ] was the last player in Major League Baseball to wear jersey number 42 on a regular basis.

Since , only Wayne Gretzky 's number 99, retired by the NHL in , and Bill Russell 's number 6, retired by the NBA in , have been retired league-wide in any of the four major sports. As an exception to the retired-number policy, MLB began honoring Robinson by allowing players to wear number 42 on April 15, Jackie Robinson Day , which is an annual observance that started in At the November groundbreaking for Citi Field , the new ballpark for the New York Mets, it was announced that the main entrance, modeled on the one in Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field , would be called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda.

The rotunda was dedicated at the opening of Citi Field on April 16, Along with the museum, scholarships will be awarded to "young people who live by and embody Jackie's ideals. Robinson has also been recognized outside of baseball. Bush gave Robinson's widow the Congressional Gold Medal , the highest civilian award bestowed by Congress; Robinson was only the second baseball player to receive the award, after Roberto Clemente.

A number of buildings have been named in Robinson's honor. His wife Rachel was present for the dedication on September In , the United States Mint issued a Jackie Robinson commemorative silver dollar, and five-dollar gold coin. In , the U. In a letter read during the ceremony, Rachel Robinson, Jackie's widow, wrote: "I remember Montreal and that house very well and have always had warm feeling for that great city.

Before Jack and I moved to Montreal, we had just been through some very rough treatment in the racially biased South during spring training in Florida. In the end, Montreal was the perfect place for him to get his start. We never had a threatening or unpleasant experience there. The people were so welcoming and saw Jack as a player and as a man.

On November 22, , UCLA announced that it would officially retire the number 42 across all university sports, effective immediately. While Robinson wore several different numbers during his UCLA career, the school chose 42 because it had become indelibly identified with him. The school also announced it would prominently display the number at all of its athletic venues.

The price was the highest ever paid for a post-World War II jersey. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikidata item. American baseball player — For other people named Jackie Robinson, see Jackie Robinson disambiguation.

Baseball player. Robinson, wearing his Army uniform, receives a military salute from his nephew Frank during a visit to his home in Pasadena, California, c. Negro leagues and major league prospects. Breaking the color barrier MVP, Congressional testimony, and film biography — Further information: Paul Robeson Congressional hearings.

Pennant races and outside interests — World Championship and retirement — Portrayals on stage, film and television. Society for American Baseball Research.