April 15 – Jackie Robinson Day

nPostednon April 15, 2016

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nInalready wrote about Jackie Robinson breaking “the color barrier”nin baseball, here and here.

nDidnyou know that Major League Baseball celebrates the anniversary ofnRobinson’s MLB debut?

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nOnnOpening Day, April 15, 1947, Robinson first played in the Majors,nthus ending eight decades of racial segregation.

nHe had to be bravenand calm to stand up to all the hateful words – and sometimesnthings – that were hurled at him. He did great with the bravery,nastonishingly well with the calmness, and superbly with the baseball.

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nEventuallyn(1962) Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, andnlater still (April 15, 1997) his number, 42, was retired throughoutnALL of MLB!

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nThat’snnever been done before.

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nSo from then on no player, on any team, would ever wear the number 42 on his jersey. But onnJackie Robinson Day, all players, coaches, and managers of bothnteams, and umpires as well, wear #42 on their jerseys!

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nBreakingnthe color barrier – also expressed as crossing the color line –nis considered an important event, not just for baseball, but for thenwhole country. A year after Robinson began the integration ofnbaseball, President Truman integrated the military, and in 1950 thenNational Basketball Association signed several black players. Lessnthan a decade after Robinson’s debut, the Supreme Court ruled fornintegration of public schools.

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n(Actually,nprofessional football broke the color barrier before Robinson’sndebut, with the Los Angeles Rams leading the way in 1945 by signingntwo black players. I’m not sure why this didn’t have the impact ofnbaseball’s integration.)

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nStill,nit is Robinson who, many say, “changed the face of Americannsports.” Documentary film maker Ken Burns has called JackienRobinson “the most important person in the history of Americannsports.” n

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nAlsonon this date: