Jackie Robinson broke the Major League Baseball "color line" in 1945 when general manager Branch Rickey signed a contract with Jackie Robinson to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Rickey, who called the move baseball's "great experiment," chose Robinson because of his excellent athletic record and strength of character. The first player to "cross the color line" would have to be able to withstand intense public scrutiny and to avoid confrontation even when met with insults and hostility.
Robinson was a well-rounded athlete, having competed in college baseball, football, basketball, and track. He had served in the Army and was active in the Civil Rights Movement. Robinson was a professional player for the Kansas City Monarchs, an all-black team in the Negro American League.
On October 23, 1945, Robinson officially signed his contract with the Dodgers. After a year on a minor league team to sharpen his skills, he put on his first Dodgers uniform (number 42) in April 1947. Not only was Robinson able to quell opposition to his presence on the field, but he quickly won the respect and enthusiasm of the fans. He finished his first season batting .297 and led the National League in stolen bases with 29, earning baseball's first Rookie of the Year Award. Two years later in 1949 he won the National League's Most Valuable Player Award, leading the league with a .342 batting average and 37 stolen bases.
Off the field, Robinson was the subject of everything from songs to a feature-length film about his life. He even starred as himself in the movie, "The Jackie Robinson Story." Released in 1950, it was one of the first films to portray a black man as an American hero.
In 1955, after getting close several times, Robinson finally played on a world-champion team when the Dodgers beat the Yankees in the World Series. He retired from baseball after the 1956 season with a lifetime batting average of .311 and the distinction of having stolen home an incredible 19 times. A legend even in his day, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, his first year of eligibility.
When Robinson stepped onto the field in 1972, it was his second appearance at a Major League Baseball game since ending a self-imposed boycott of baseball which he had begun in protest of the sport's poor record in hiring minorities for managerial and front-office positions.
In a televised interview prior to the game, Robinson expressed his pleasure in being at the game, but added, "I'd like to live to see a black manager. I'd like to live to see the day when there's a black man coaching at third base."
Sadly, he did not live to see it happen. Nine days later, on October 24, 1972, Jackie Robinson died of a heart attack at his home in Stamford, Connecticut. He was 53 years old. The first black baseball manager, Frank Robinson, was hired in 1975 by the Cleveland Indians.
