Seeing how this is the last crested jersey in my collection, this is my last Jersey Sunday blog entry for the next long while. I did plan on having this as my "final" post because of the impact on North American sports this player made. Today's special feature is Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Purchased off Mitchell and Ness during their 50% off online sale. I knew I wanted this right off the bat. It's just the feeling of owning the jersey of someone who has made sports what it is today - I'd regret not getting a Jackie Robinson jersey when the price was right. This is the last time I'll ever let this jersey touch the floor.
Fast fact: Their full team name is Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers named after the streetcar tracks bordering their former home field. It was then shortened to just "Dodgers."
This cap is made entirely of wool from the New Era 19Twenty collection. It's probably the closest thing to what the players wore in 1955 and the best matching hat in my collection.
Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, GA. Grandson to a slave and a son to a housekeeper, it was very unexpected to what he would amount to in the history books. After a stellar athletic tenure at UCLA and brief service in the military, he would start his professional baseball career playing shortstop for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Baseball League in 1945. It was a blessing in disguise for what was to come in the middle of that season.
Branch Rickey, then owner and GM of the Brooklyn Dodgers expressed great interest in scouting black players for his major league club. Through the Negro Baseball League, Jackie Robinson impressed the scouts and management and shortly signed him to their Minor League Baseball affiliate; Montreal Royals in 1946. There was a disputed moment between the two during their meeting in which Jackie Robinson asked, "Are you looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back?" Branch Rickey replied he needed a player "with guts enough not to fight back." After playing one season in the minors, Jackie Robinson was called up to the Brookyln Dodgers shortly before the start of the regular season.
On April 15 1947, with the help of Branch Rickey, Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers desegregated baseball for the first time in its 80+ year history. Many fans, owners, players, and teammates, were outraged calling walkouts, boycotts, and even death threats. This would not deter Jackie Robinson from becoming the premiere player he sought out to be earning the first ever Rookie of the Year Award in MLB history batting .297, scoring 125 runs with 12 homers, and stole 29 bases. The Brooklyn Dodgers would become National League Champions, but come up short against the New York Yankees.
Jackie Robinson would be the biggest key player for the next ten years in Brooklyn. They would make an appearance to the postseason every year and win the National League pennant six times. He was now embraced by Major League Baseball not just for his impact on society, but he was well worth the price of admission. His skills on the baseball field overshadowed the colour of his skin.
In his four trips to the World Series, the Brooklyn Dodgers were taken out by the New York Yankees. Writers would coin the catchphrase "Wait 'til next year" for their Ebbets Field tennants. It wasn't until 1955, their fifth championship appearance, where an aging Jackie Robinson would finally get his revenge against those pinstripes. It was a 7 game series which ended at Yankee Stadium, a shocking defeat for New York and a Cinderella Story season for the Dodgers. Jackie Robinson batted .182 with 4 hits, 5 RBI and one stolen base. Probably the biggest steals of his career, he made a speedy trip to home plate against the 1955 AL MVP catcher; Yogi Berra.
In 1956, the Brooklyn Dodgers would make another trip to the World Series against the New York Yankees. Unfortunately, the Dodgers would come up short in another 7 game battle. At the end of the post-season, Jackie Robinson was traded to the division rival New York Giants, but decided to put an end to his great career.
Jackie Robinson left an indelible mark on North American history. Long before Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X - Jackie Robinson was at the front of it all. He wasn't a politician, an activist, or a movie star. He just wanted to play baseball. He paved the way for blacks to enter professional leagues and sports would not be as entertaining as it is today. There would not be a Michael Jordan or PK Subban if it weren't for his and Branch Rickey's bravery.
On October 25, 1972, Jackie Robinson died of a heart attack at the age of 53 in Stamford, CT. He lies in the Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY.
His tombstone reads, "A life is not important except the impact it has on other lives."
Career Achievements and Honours:
Inaugural MLB Rookie of the Year [1947], NL MVP [1949], 6x All-Star [1949-1954], World Series Champion [1955], Major League Baseball's All-Century Team, Baseball Hall of Fame [1962].
In 1987, the Rookie of the Year Award was renamed the Jackie Robinson Award. He was the first player to recieve the trophy 40 years earlier.
On April 15, 1997, 50 years after his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Major League Baseball retired the #42 in his honour. This is the first time a jersey number was retired league-wide. The only current player with that number is New York Yankees P Mariano Rivera, who chose the number in 1995 specifically because of Jackie Robinson. That day is also known as Jackie Robinson Day where all players and coaches wear the #42.
In 2009, the New York Mets moved into the newly built Citi Field and named its main entrance The Jackie Robinson Rotunda.
In 1950, Eagle-Lion Films distributed a biographical motion picture called The Jackie Robinson Story. Who better to play Jackie Robinson than the man himself.
"I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me. All I ask is that you respect me as a human being." - Jackie Robinson
