For this day in history, April 10th, there were many historical events that I could’ve picked to write about such as, John Madden was born in 1936, Ken Griffey Sr. was born, The PGA formed in 1916, Paul McCartney left The Beatles in 1970. However, the event I decided to write on had such a bigger impact on not only the sports world but just life and sports in general.
On April 10th 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African American baseball player to sign a contract with a team in the MLB, he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Robinson then went on to play 2nd base for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1947-1956. He was a 6 time MLB All-Star, 1947 Rookie of the Year, NL MVP and Batting champion in 1949, and in 1955 he became a World Series champion.
In 1962, Robinson was voted into Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot receiving 77.5% of votes. In 1997 the MLB retired Robinsons number 42 across all teams. They have also declared April 15th “Jackie Robinson Day” where every player on every team wears the number 42 to honor Robinson.
Baseball is like a poker game. Nobody wants to quit when he’s losing; nobody wants you to quit when you’re ahead. -Jackie Robinson
The reason his signing was a major event was because it broke the color barrier in baseball. Before Robinson, there were no African Americans in the MLB but he proved everyone wrong and helped inspire future generations fall in love with the game.
