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Early life
Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia on January 31, 1919. He lived with his 4 siblings and single mom while being the only non-white family in the area. Especially in this time in society, they were greatly discriminated against through their entire young life. -
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Early Athletics
Growing up, Jackie was very athletic while excelling in 4 sports; baseball, basketball, football, and track. While having all this athleticism going for him, he was still learning how to deal with the racism and it was very hard for his whole family to deal with it. With Jackie being good at sports, the racism was carried onto the field or court so he couldn't get away from it. -
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College Athletcis
Jackie was the first athlete to win varsity letters in 4 sports to UCLA. In 1941, he was named to the All-American football team. Because of money problems he was unfortunately forced to drop out. He then decided to join to US army. -
Education Achievements
Enrolled in Pasadena Junior College 1938-1939.
Led Pasadena to the Junior College Championship in 1938.
Named Most Valuable Junior College Player in Southern California in 1938.
- Held the National Junior College broad jump record.
- Transferred to UCLA 1939-1940.
- Won the NCAA broad jump title at 25' 6 1/2".
- Became UCLA's first four-letter man.
- Served in the U.S. Army from 1942-1945, during which he became second Lieutenant.
- Inducted into UCLA's Hall of Fame on June 10, 1984. -
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US Miliraty
After being forced to drop out of college due to financial struggles, Jackie decided to enlist into the US Army. Again, he was rascally discriminated against in the army which caused altercations and ultimately forcing him to be honorably discharged. -
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Negro Leauges
In 1945, Jackie played one season for the Kansas City Monarchs, travelling all over the mid-west US -
Ricky Branch
In 1947, an MLB manager for the Brooklyn Dodgers reached out to Jackie and asked him if he wanted to be on the team. Of course Jackie wanted to, but an African-American baseball player hadn't ever played in the MLB and he'd be breaking the colour barrier -
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Rookie season
Jackie came into the league and took it by storm by putting up 12 homers, a league-leading 29 steals, and a .297 average. In 1949, he was selected as the NL's Most Valuable player of the Year and also won the batting title with a .342 average. -
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Playing Career
Throughout Jackie's career he obviously dealt with plenty of racism, but also endured lots of success. He fished his career with a .311 batting average, HR - 137, RBI - 734, SB - 197. -
Racism In The MLB
For Jackie, playing baseball wasn't at all what was on his mind. Each and every game he would get fans, players , and coaches yelling at him and shouting racist comments. Even away from the game he would be attacked physically and verbally for playing in the MLB. Even on the field pitchers would throw at his head and continue to call him names. Jackie was effected by this many times and it came as far as attacking his family. -
Baseball Awards
Jackie was a 6x all star, 2x MVP, 1x world series champion, he also led the league in Batting average, stolen bases, and on base percentage in different years. -
Family
Jackie married Rachel Isum, a nursing student he met at UCLA, in 1946. Rachel and their three children, Jackie Jr., Sharon and David, all helped Jackie get through the tough times of racism and discrimination through his baseball career. -
Baseball Achievements
Named National League Rookie of the Year in 1947.
- Led the National League in stolen bases in 1947 and 1949.
- Led second basemen in double plays 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1952.
- Selected as the National League MVP in 1949
- Won the 1949 batting title with a .342.
- National League All-Star Team, 1949-1954.
- Had a career batting average of .311 with the Dodgers, .333 in All-Star games
- Led the Dodgers to six World Series and one World Series Championship in a 10-year span. -
42
Jackie Robinson wore number 42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers. After being inducted into the hall of fame in 1962, on April 15th every year, every player in the MLB wears number 42 to celebrate Jackie's legacy, racism, and the game of baseball. -
Beyond Baseball
Jackie Robinson has done very much for the game of baseball as well as racism in society. he established the Jackie Robinson Construction Company in 1970 to build housing for families with low incomes. There was also a movie made about him to teach people about what went on in his life
