Jackie Robinson: American Hero

Sometimes I think American history is just a collection of bad news. Wars and slavery dominate the story of America. I'm a big fan of the founding fathers, but even that led to the Revolutionary War. But today is the anniversary of something very good that happened in America. Something revolutionary and ahead of it's time.

My giant Robinson baseball card. Very cool.

71 years ago today, Jackie Robinson played his first Major League Baseball game. Integrating what had been an all-white sport until then. The baseball historian in me wants to tell you Robinson wasn't the first African American in the major leagues. That was Moses Fleetwood Walker in 1884. But it was a long wait for Robinson to be the next.

All history should be looked at in the context of its time. African Americans fought and died for America in World War II. But even the American military was segregated. This was the prime of Jim Crow laws in the south. Separate rest rooms for black and white. Separate lunch counters. Many businesses were white only.

Into this mess steps young "Jackie Robinson - Civil Rights Pioneer". Was he ahead of his time? Martin Luther King was in junior high. This was a decade before Rosa Parks wouldn't give up her seat.

Robinson grew up in California. He went to UCLA. He joined the Army in 1942. But even that was not without controversy. He was court martialed for refusing to give up his seat on a military bus. He was acquitted of all charges by an all white jury.

After the Army, he joined the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Baseball League. He was one of the many stars of that league. Black players really had nowhere else to go. There were occasional exhibition games between Negro League players and players in the Major Leagues. (Even Cleveland had a team in the Negro Leagues called the Cleveland Buckeyes. They played at old League Park.)

Hall of Fame plaque.

Then history intervened. Branch Rickey was the General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He arranged a meeting with Robinson. The story goes that Robinson didn't even know what the meeting was about. He thought maybe Rickey was starting a Negro League club.After learning his actual intentions to integrate MLB, Rickey also explained what to expect. Jackie wouldn't be greeted with open arms but sections of the public, other players, and even teammates. He was repeatedly harassed, and even received death threats.

But here's the thing. Jackie Robinson could really play the game. He played it with a skill and love for the game that made him fans all over. He also was a gentleman when facing difficult circumstances. Imagine if he wasn't. Imagine if he was a hot head. Baseball integration might have been set back for years.

He paved the way for many others. Larry Doby became the first African American in the American League in Cleveland a few months after Robinson entered MLB. Robinson became the N.L. Rookie of the Year, and the N.L. MVP in 1949.

Every year on April 15th all players wear 42.

Jackie Robinson was elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1962, his first year of eligibility. He passed away in 1972 at the age of 56. In 1999 The Sporting News listed him as one of the 100 greatest players to play the game. The U.S. Armed forces were integrated in 1948, the year after Robinson's MLB debut. Now every season, all players wear number 42 on April 15th to honor Robinson

As years passed some black athletes with opinions on civil rights, like Muhammad Ali and Jim Brown probably thought Jackie Robinson was too mild with respect to the racial injustices. But remember what I mentioned earlier: history should be judged in the context of their times.

Sometimes you need to walk a mile in another persons shoes to understand them.