Bibliography

"Jackie Robinson - The Official Site." Jackie Robinson - The Official Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 May

     2013. <http://www.jackierobinson.com/>. 

 

 

"Jackie Robinson Quotes | Quotes by Jackie Robinson." Quotes and Sayings - Search Quotes. N.p.,  

     n.d. Web. 7 May 2013. <http://www.searchquotes.com/quotes/author/Jackie_Robinson/>.   

 

 

"Jackie Robinson Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com." Baseball-Reference.com - MLB

     Stats, Standings, Scores, History. Sam Tufano Trust , n.d. Web. 7 May 2013.

     <http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/robinja02.shtml>. 

"Jackie Robinson. Biography Jackie Robinson Biography - Facts, Birthday, Life Story -

     Biography.com ." bio. True Story Famous Biographies & TV Shows - Biography.com . N.p., n.d.

     Web. 7 May 2013. <http://www.biography.com/people/jackie-robinson-9460813>. 

 

 

"Robinson, Jackie | Baseball Hall of Fame." Baseball Hall of Fame | Preserving History - Honoring 

      Excellence - Connecting Generations. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 May 2013.

      <http://baseballhall.org/hof/robinson-jackie>.

Basball Hero

While some people threatened Jackie Robinson and his family, others stood by him. They protected his right to play baseball in the major leagues. Some of the people that protected him and his right to play were League President Ford Frick, Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler, Jewish baseball star Hank Greenberg, and Dodgers shortstop and team captain Pee Wee Reese. One instance of harasment, Pee Wee Reese walked over to Jackie and put his arm around his shoulder. This is known as one of the most famous gesture in sports. Through the tormenting of Jackie he managed to put all of the racial strife aside and prooved himself to be a good ball player. He hit 12 home runs in his rookie season to help his cause. He also hit .342 and fielded .985. He went on to earn the Rookie of the Year award in 1945. In 1949, He led the league in stolen bases while also hitting .342 on his way to winning the National League's Most Valuable Player(MVP) Award. Robinson also opened the door for players such as Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron.

Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Barrier

After Robinson was discharged in 1944, he started to play professional baseball. When he started to play he was in the negro leagues. Robinson started his career with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1945.
After he was purchased by Branch Ricky, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he went to the triple-A Montreal Royals. After one year in the minors as a first baseman, he he was called up to the big leagues as a Brooklyn Dodger. He played his first game at Ebbets Field for the Dodgers on April 15,1947. When Jackie joined the Dodgers, Branch Rickey made Jackie promise not to fight back when he was confronted by racists. People in the crowds would jeer him and his family would be threatened by many people. His career with the Royals was the main reason Jackie was promoted to the majors. The Dodgers manager Leo Durocher even said he would trade the white players before Jackie after they had threatened to sit out.

Introduction to Jackie Robinson

Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31,1919 and little did he know that he would be the one to change baseball for the world. He was born in the small city of Cairo, Georgia, which is smaller than Johnstown,Colorado, and he was raised by his single mother in a small house. He attended John Muir High School and lettered in varsity track, baseball, football, and basketball. He then went on to Pasadena Junior College where he lettered in the same four sports. After he finished junior college, he started to attend the University of California; Los Angeles(UCLA) where he became the first athelete in the schools history to letter in four sports, which were the same four sports he always lettered in. When Jackie graduated college he went on to play football for the semi-professional Honolulu Bears in Hawaii. His career was put on halt when the U.S. went into World War II. Jackie served in the U.S. army from 1942-1944 as a second lieutenant and he never saw combat. Jackie was arrested and court-martialed during his bootcamp because he refused to move to the back of the segregated bus. All of the charges were dropped shortly after and he was given an honorable discharge.