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by Royce Radcliffe

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Jackie Robinson is known primarily as the first African American to break into major league baseball, a feat he accomplished in 1947 with the Las Angelas Dodgers. He is a Hall of Famer whose career tells the story of a turbulent chapter in the history of sports.

Born in 1919 as the youngest of five children, his skills were evident from the outset. Despite this he lived in poverty and even got involved in street crime trying to make a living. He later dropped the gang life as he moved back toward sports. He lettered in four of his high school teams.

He later Pasadena Junior College and played baseball and football. He also competed in the long jump for the track team. In 1938 he was named to the All Southland Junior College Team and selected as his region's MVP. But soon Pearl Harbor would come and draw the nation into war. Jackie Robinson was drafted and served two and a half years.

And then in the last 1940s he was scouted by the Dodgers. Progressive general manager Banch Rickey had been looking through promising African American players and Jackie's name was soon at the top. He became the first player in fifty years of baseball to break the color barrier.

Of course it was not easy. He faced harassment everywhere, especially his first season. The team around him almost mutinied, only to stop short when they realized their jobs were on the line. There were some like Pee Wee Reese who stood up for him all along. During the team's first road trip in Cincinnati Robinson was being heckled mercilessly when Reese walked up and put his arm around Robinson in a friendly gesture that silenced the crowd and became an iconic moment in sports history.

Eventually the abuse from other teams and people grew so absurd that it actually served to unify the Dodgers. Jackie responded and turned in a great career, batting around a three hundred average and leading the league in stolen bases twice. He also won the first ever Rookie of the Year award. He was traded to the Giants in 1956 and rather than play for these nemesis of his Dodgers he retired at age thirty eight.

Robinson is remembered as a consummate hitter as well as one of the all time great base stealers. He is a Hall of Famer and a member of the All Century team. But none of that compares to the fact that he stood strong against an onslaught of hate that would wear most men down. By standing resolute he dragged the rest of the world into a whole new era and sports have not been the same since.

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