Jackie Robinson is the first African American baseball player to in the MLB in the modern era!
Let’s check our knowledge of him and find out some more things!
- His full name is Jack Roosevelt Robinson
- He was born on January 31, 1919
- He died in October 24, 1972
- Jackei Robinson was an American professional baseball player
- He the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era
- Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947
- When the Dodgers signed Robinson, they heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s
- Jackie Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962
- Jackie Robinson had an exceptional 10-year MLB career
- He was the recipient of the inaugural MLB Rookie of the Year Award in 1947
- He was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954
- He also won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949
- The first black player so honored
- Jackie Robinson played in six World Series
- He contributed to the Dodgers’ 1955 World Series championship
- In 1997, MLB retired his uniform number 42 across all major league teams
- He was the first pro athlete in any sport to be so honored
- MLB also adopted a new annual tradition, “Jackie Robinson Day”, for the first time on April 15, 2004
- On this day every player on every team wears No. 42
- Robinson’s character, his use of nonviolence, and his unquestionable talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation
- He influenced the culture of and contributed significantly to the civil rights movement
- Jackie Robinson also was the first black television analyst in MLB
- He was also the first black vice president of a major American corporation, Chock full o’Nuts
- In the 1960s, he helped establish the Freedom National Bank
- After his death in 1972, in recognition of his achievements on and off the field, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal
- He was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
- He was the youngest of five children
- His mother’s name was Mallie McGriff
- And his father’s Jerry Robinson
- His siblings were Edgar, Frank, Matthew (nicknamed “Mack”), and Willa Mae
- His middle name was in honor of former President Theodore Roosevelt, who died 25 days before Robinson was born
- Jackie Robinson’s father left the family in 1920
- His family moved to Pasadena, California
- Growing up in relative poverty in an otherwise affluent community, Robinson and his minority friends were excluded from many recreational opportunities
- Jackie Robinson married Rachel Robinson
- They had three children: Jackie Robinson Jr. (1946–1971), Sharon Robinson (b. 1950), and David Robinson (b. 1952)
- Complications from heart disease and diabetes weakened Robinson and made him almost blind by middle age
- Jackie Robinson died of a heart attack at his home on 95 Cascade Road in North Stamford, Connecticut
- He was 53 years old
- His life was made into a movie called ’42!
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