#42

It all changed in 1947 within a blink of an eye.  HIs major league debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers was April 15, 1947 (History).  Jackie Robinson was an amazing athlete. He played four sports at UCLA which were baseball, football, basketball, and track. Robinson was the first athlete to receive varsity letters in all four sports. Robinson served for our country during WWII. Jackie Robinson’s choice was to play Major League Baseball knowing he was going receive hundreds of death threats, he changed the way baseball was played and will be played.

In 1920-1940s there was not a single black male playing in the MLB but Robinson changed all of that in 1947. Everyone knew Jackie Robinson was good because they saw him play in the black league but the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey saw something in Robinson that stood out from the others. So Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson on one condition, if he won’t respond to any racial abuse he would face. That had to be hard for Robinson because some of the abuse can be physical so he can injure himself making him not play baseball anymore. Some of the abuse can make him feel like he isn’t worth anything. If he retaliated or responded in anyway he would be released meaning he would be off the team. That shows how determined he was to play baseball.

Everyone probably thought Robinson was crazy by playing in an ALL white league considering he would receive a lot of death treats. But he didn’t care, he wanted to prove people wrong.  Some of the death threats would say “We are going to kill you if you enter a ball game crosley field.” (Lee Daniels pg 75 ) Jackie could have easlly given up within the first year, day, month, or even the first week week but he wanted to show people what he was capable to do when playing baseball. Everyone else who receive abuse like Jackie probably would have given up on playing in an all white league or give up baseball in general but Jackie wasn't a quitter. He wanted to change baseball.
Robinson’s impact on the baseball community was pretty insane. The MLB thought it was insane also because of how it happened and how fast it happened. The MLB retired Robinson’s number which was 42, meaning nobody can have that number in the major leagues. The only day players wear 42 is April 15, his national day for baseball. Jackie also had a career .311 batting average (Bio). That means Robinson got 3 hits in 10 at bats, which might not seem like a lot but in baseball it’s insane. If Jackie Robinson was still alive he would probably be very proud at what people say about him and his stats were amazing too. The MLB must have thought his impact was great if they made a special day about him.  Robinson always wanted to do his best. He never wanted to settle with everything below average.                

Although the percentage of black players went up and down like a roller coaster he still changed the ratios between Whites, Blacks, Latinos and Asians by inspiring them to play a sport. He inspired them because he was the first Black player to play in the MLB. Jackie Robinson will always be remembered in the baseball community and in our hearts.