(1919-72) Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia., on January 31,
1919 to Jerry and Mallie Robinson. He grew up in Pasadena, California. In high
school and at Pasadena Junior College he showed great athletic skill in track,
basketball, football, and baseball. He left school in 1941 and was drafted the
following year for Army service during World War II. After receiving a medical
discharge in 1945, Jackie Robinson decided to tryout for the Boston Red Sox, but
ended up not making the team. He spent a year playing baseball with the Kansas
City Monarchs of the Negro National League. Later he played in the 1946 season
with the Montreal Royals, a Dodgers farm club, and led the International League
in hitting with a .349 average. He stole 40 bases and scored 113 runs. When the
Dodgers opened their 1947 season, Robinson was playing second base. On April 10,
1947, Jackie Robinson became the first black player to sign a major league
contract in the 20th century. During his first game, Jackie went hitless in
three at-bats, but flawlessly handled 11 chances at first base. In 1947, Jackie
hit .297 and stole 29 bases while also playing first base for the Dodgers.
Jackie led the National League in stolen bases and was named rookie of the year.
The main problem he had to overcome was controlling his short temper after
hearing so many racial remarks from the crowds and other ball players, including
his own teammates. On July 12, 1949, Jackie Robinson made his All-Star game
debut for the National league. This was the first time that a black player
participated in an All-Star game. On October 6, 1949, Jackie Robinson scored the
only run in the Dodgers 1-0 win over the New York Yankees in game two of the
World Series. This was the only game that the Dodgers won in the 1949 World
Series. In 1949, with a .342 average, he was named the most valuable player in
the league. He was one of the game’s best base runners, with a total of 197
stolen bases. The Dodgers won six National League pennants during Robinson’s ten
playing years. On December 13, 1956, the Brooklyn Dodgers traded Jackie Robinson
to the Dodger’s rival team, the New York Giants in hopes that Robinson would be
able to boost the low attendance. He was being traded for a pitcher named Dick
Littlefield and $35,000 in cash. At this time, Robinson was having problems with
his legs and was thinking about quitting baseball. Less than a month later,
Jackie retired from baseball in 1956 with a lifetime batting average of .311. On
January 23, 1962, the Baseball Writers Association of America elected Jackie
Robinson to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Robinson became
the first African-American to be elected. After retirement he became a
vice-president of a New York restaurant firm and the president of a
land-development company. From 1964 to 1968 he served as special assistant for
civil rights to Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York. He also worked with
drug-prevention programs. Robinson starred in the motion picture The Jackie
Robinson Story which was made in 1950 and was the author, with Alfred Duckett,
of I Never Had It Made in 1972. On October 24, 1972, Jackie Robinson died from a
heart attack at the age of 53 in Stamford, Connecticut. Ten days earlier,
Robinson had thrown out the first pitch at the beginning of the second game in
the 1972 World Series.
