42FactsAboutJackieRobinson

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WIKIMEDIACOMMONS

OnApril15,MajorLeagueBaseballcelebratesJackieRobinsonDay.Onthatdayin1947,
RobinsonbrokethebaseballcolorlineandbecamethefirstAfricanAmericantoplayona
majorsportsteam.Hereare42factstocelebrate.
1.Jack"Jackie"RooseveltRobinsonwasbornJanuary31,1919,inCairo,Ga.Shortlyafter
hisbirth,hisfamilymovedandsettledinPasadena,Calif.
2.PresidentTheodoreRoosevelt,whodied25daysbeforeRobinsonwasborn,wasthe
inspirationforhismiddlename.
3.HewastheyoungestoffivechildrenEdgar,Frank,MatthewMack,andWillaMae
andgrewupinrelativepovertyinawelloffcommunityinPasadena.

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4.RobinsonattendedJohnMuirHighSchool,wherehewasplacedonthePomonaAnnual
BaseballTournamentAllStarTeamwithfellowfutureBaseballHallofFamersTed
WilliamsoftheBostonRedSoxandBobLemonoftheClevelandIndians.
5.Hewasalsoanaccomplishedtennisplayer,winningthejuniorboyssingles
championshipinthePacificCoastNegroTennisTournament.
6.JackiesbrotherMackwasanadeptathleteandasplendidsprinter.HewonaSilver
Medalinthe200metersbehindJesseOwensduringthe1936SummerOlympicsinBerlin,
Germany.
7.In1942,JackieRobinsonwasdraftedintotheArmy.Hewasassignedtoasegregated
ArmyCavalryunitinFortRiley,Kansas.

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8.WhileintheArmy,RobinsonbecamefriendswithboxingchampionJoeLouiswhenthe
heavyweight,whowasstationedatFortRileyatthetime,usedhiscelebritytoprotestthe
delayedentryofblacksoldiersinanOfficeCandidateSchool(OCS).Asaresult,Robinson
wascommissionedasasecondlieutenantin1943.
9.Afteranincidentwhereherefusedtositinthebackofanunsegregatedbus,military
policearrestedRobinsonattherequestofadutyofficer,wholaterrequestedRobinsonbe
courtmartialed.Atthetimeoftheproceedings,Robinsonwasprohibitedfrombeing
deployedoverseastotheWorldWarIIbattlefronts.Heneversawcombatduringthewar.
10.RobinsonwasacquittedandthenassignedtoCampBreckinridgeinKentucky,wherehe
workedasanArmyathleticscoachuntilhewasgivenanhonorabledischargein1944.
Duringhistimeatthecamp,RobinsonwasencouragedtotryoutfortheKansasCity
MonarchsintheNegroNationalLeague.
11.In1945,RobinsonsignedacontracttoplayfortheKansasCityMonarchs.Hewaspaid
$400amonth(about$5100today)toplayshortstopandeventuallywasplacedintheNegro
LeagueAllStarGamethatyear.
12.RobinsonmarriedRachelIslumwhohehadmetin1941duringhissenioryearat
UCLAin1946.Theyhadtheirfirstson,JackieRobinsonJr.,thatNovember.The
Robinsonshadtwomorechildren:adaughter,Sharon,andanotherson,David.

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13.RobinsonplayedMinorLeagueBaseballfortheMontrealRoyalsin1946,untilhewas
calleduptoplayfortheBrooklynDodgersintheMajorLeaguesin1947.
14.HemadehisMajorLeagueBaseballdebutonApril15,1947,atEbbetsFieldin
Brooklyn,NewYork.HebecamethefirstAfricanAmericanbaseballplayerinMajor
Leaguehistory.
15.HealsowonRookieoftheYearin1947withabattingaverageof.297,175hits,12
homeruns,and48runsbattedin.

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16.JackieRobinsonhadaclosefriendshipwithLarryDobyoftheClevelandIndians,who

wasthefirstAfricanAmericanbaseballplayerintheAmericanLeague.Thetwomenbroke
thecolorbarrierinbaseballinthesameyearandwouldtalktoeachotheronthetelephone
tosharetheirexperienceswithracismduringtheseason.
17.DodgersteammatePeeWeeReesedefendedRobinsonagainstviolentandnastyracial
slursduringhisrookieseason.Reesefamouslyputhisarmaroundhimandsaid,Youcan
hateamanformanyreasons.Colorisnotoneofthem,asaresponsetofansshouting
racialslursatRobinson.
18.OnAugust29,1948,ina127winagainsttheSt.LouisCardinals,Robinsonhitforthe
cyclewithahomerun,atriple,adouble,andthenasingleinthesamegame.
19.RobinsonwastheNationalLeagueBattingandStolenBasesChampionwithabatting
averageof.342and37stolenbasesin1949.
20.HewasalsoasixtimeAllStarbetweentheyears1949to1954.
21.In1949,RobinsonwascalledtotestifybeforetheUnitedStatesHouseof
RepresentativesCommitteeonUnAmericanActivities(HUAC).Hewassubpoenaed
becauseofcommentsmadeabouthimbyprominentAfricanAmericanactorPaulRobson.
Atfirst,Robinsonwashesitanttotestify,butthenwasultimatelycompelledtodoso
becausehefearednotdoingsowouldhurthisbaseballcareer.
22.TheNationalLeaguesMostValuablePlayerAwardwenttoRobinsonin1949,afterhis
firstappearanceintheMLBAllStarGame.RobinsonlatertookhisteamtotheWorld
Series,butwouldloseagainsttheNewYorkYankees.

CourtesyofMoviePosterShop
23.JackieRobinsonplayedhimselfinTheJackieRobinsonStory,abiopicabouthislife

releasedin1950.AcademyAwardnominatedfemaleactorRubyDeeplayedRobinsons
wifeRachelRaeIsumRobinson.
24.Duringtheoffseason,RobinsonwentonavaudevilleandspeakingtouroftheSouth,
wherehewouldanswerpresetquestionsabouthislife.Heactuallymademoremoneyon
thesetoursthanhedidonhiscontractwiththeBrooklynDodgers.
25.RobinsonplayedinsixWorldSeries,butonlywononein1955againsttheNewYork
Yankeesinasevengameseries.Robinsondidntplayin49gamesthatseasonandmissed
Game7;DonHoakplayedthirdbaseinRobinsonsplace.
26.At37,RobinsonretiredfromMajorLeagueBaseballandtheBrooklynDodgersin1956
duetothevisibleeffectsofdiabetes.UnbeknownsttotheBrooklynDodgers,Robinson
tookapositionwiththeAmericancoffeecompanyChockFullONutsandagreedtoquit
baseball.
27.From1957to1964,JackieRobinsonservedasthevicepresidentofpersonnelfor
ChockFullONutscoffee.HewasthefirstAfricanAmericanvicepresidentofamajor
Americancorporation.
28.Robinsonwasapoliticalindependent,buthadveryconservativeviewsontheVietnam
War.HealsosupportedRichardNixoninthe1960PresidentialelectionagainstJohnF.
Kennedy,althoughRobinsonadmiredKennedysstanceoncivilrightsoncehewaselected.
HewaslaterdismayedwithRepublicansfornotsupportingtheCivilRightsActof1964
andsoonafterbecameaDemocrat.
29.In1962,JackieRobinsonwasinductedintheBaseballHallofFameduringhisfirst
yearofeligibility.HewasthefirstAfricanAmericaninductedattheCooperstownHallof
FameandMuseum.
30.JackieRobinsonwasalwaysseenasalargefigureintheCivilRightsMovementinthe
1960s.Dr.MartinLutherKingJr.oncesaidRobinsonwasalegendandsymbolinhisown
timewhochallengedthedarkskiesofintoleranceandfrustration.
31.In1964,RobinsoncofoundedtheFreedomNationalBankablackownedand
operatedbankinHarlem,NewYorkwithbusinessmanDunbarMcLaurin.Robinsonwas
thecommercialbanksfirstChairmanoftheBoard.HiswifelaterservedasChairmanuntil
1990whenthebankclosed.

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32.RobinsonwasalsothefirstAfricanAmericanTVsportsanalyst.Hebroadcastedfor
ABCsMajorLeagueBaseballGameoftheWeektelecastsin1965.Robinsonlaterworked
asaparttimecommentatorfortheMontrealExposin1972.
33.OnJune4,1972,theDodgersretiredJackieRobinsonsuniformnumber42,aswellas
SandyKoufaxsnumber32andRoyCampanellasnumber39.
34.RobinsondiedofaheartattackonOctober24,1972inStamford,Connecticut,atage
53.
35.In1973,Robinsonswidow,Rachel,startedtheJackieRobinsonFoundation,anon
profitorganizationthatgivescollegescholarshipstominorities.TheFoundationalso
preservesthelegacyofJackieRobinsonasabaseballplayerandacivilrightspioneer.
36.ThehouseinBrooklyn,NewYork,whereJackieRobinsonlivedwhileheplayedforthe
BrooklynDodgerswasdeclaredaNationalHistoricalLandmarkin1976.
37.OnMarch1,1981,AmericanastronomerSchelteJohnBobbyBusdiscoveredan
asteroidattheSidingSpringObservatoryinNewSouthWales,Australia.Busnamedthe
asteroid4319Jackierobinson,afterhisfavoritebaseballplayer.
38.PresidentRonaldReaganposthumouslyawardedJackieRobinsonwiththePresidential
MedalofFreedomthehighestawardgiventoacivilianfortheircontributionstoworld

peace,cultural,orothersignificantpublicorprivateendeavorsonMarch26,1984.
39.Youwon'tseeanybaseballplayerswearingthenumber42:In1997,Robinsons
numberwasretiredthroughoutMajorLeagueBaseball.Thiswasthefirstandonlytimea
jerseynumberhadbeenretiredthroughoutanentireprofessionalsportsleague.
40.In1999,RobinsonwasaddedtotheMajorLeagueBaseballAllCenturyTeamalong
withCalRipkenJr.,JoeDiMaggio,WillieMays,andTyCobb.Fanschosethefinal
selectionsfromalistcompiledofthe100greatestMajorLeagueBaseballplayersfromthe
pastcentury.

CourtesyofMichaelG.Baron
41.April15,2004,becameJackieRobinsonDayandalluniformedplayersinMajor
LeagueBaseballwererequiredtowearnumber42ontheirjerseystohonorRobinsons
memoryandlegacytothesport.
42.Morethan20yearsafterhereceivedthePresidentialMedalofFreedom,President
GeorgeW.BushalsoposthumouslyawardedJackieRobinsonwiththeCongressionalGold
Medalthehighesthonorthelegislativebranchcanbestowonacivilianandmustbeco
sponsoredbytwothirdsofmembersintheHouseandtheSenateforhiscontributionsto
Americanhistory.Hebecamethesecondbaseballplayertoreceivethisaccoladeafter
PittsburghPiratesRightFielderRobertoClementein1973.