Jackie Robinson: Accomplishments and Impact on The World

Introduction

Jackie Robinson was an important and influential figure in history that had a positive impact in America’s sports as a whole because he challenged racism. Jackie Robinson is widely known as the first African American to play in Major League Baseball. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1947 to 1956 and showed great talent. “I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.” a famous quote from Robinson that means he doesn’t want people to treat him as less human because he is African American.

Jackie Robinson was born January 31, 1919 on a plantation in Cairo Georgia. His Mother, Mallie Robinson moved Jackie's family to California. In High school Jackie played football, basketball, baseball and track. Robinson was going through college, but he left close to graduation due to being drafted into the army. While in the army, he faced segregation and racism by white comrades. Robinson became a second lieutenant after many issues getting into the Officer Candidate School. Later in Robinson’s career, he was court martialed after refusing to sit at the back of a bus, however he was later acquitted. Jackie Robinson was inspired to play baseball by one of his brothers, Matthew Robinson. Robinson debut in the Negro leagues, and only played one season before he was brought into the major league.

One of the greatest accomplishments under Robinson’s belt is how well he performed despite all the hate he received. Robinson was not even allowed to play for a while as the police threatened to cancel games and many training facilities didn’t allow him to use them. Robinson was even subject to racism by his own team, some of which refused to play with him despite his great performance. Things settled down when Robinson’s manager gave a speech and said he would trade them if they did not play with Robinson. Robinson was also booed and called names by the audiences of games and even sent death threats. Opposing teams also played rough with him by throwing pitches at him, he was hit by the most pitches in one of his season with being hit by a total of 72 pitches in his entire career. Despite all of this hatred Robinson controlled himself and gained the respect of fans and other players.

Probably the most significant accomplishment that Robinson has done was breaking the color barrier in the MLB. Before Robinson's debut in April 1947 there were only white males in the Major League. Jackie Robinson Inspired many great African Americans players to play for the MLB like Larry Doby, Willard Brown, and Monte Irvin, all of which were elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Though all of these players weren’t well received at first, they all became well respected within the baseball and African American communities.

Another well-known accomplishment of Robinson was just how good he was at his sport. Jackie Robinson was a legendary baseball player not just for being African American. While Jackie was in the major league he made 137 Home runs, had 1518 hits, had a BA of .331 an RBI of 734, and 197 stolen bases, amazing overall stats. Some people even claimed him to have skill rivaling Babe Ruth. Robinson was so skilled that even if he were to be playing today he would still be up there with the top dogs.

Impact on the world

Jackie Robinson absolutely had a positive impact on the world. America’s MLB would be completely different as there would be no African American players and likely no other minority races playing in the Major Leagues. The baseball field as a whole became a lot less segregated and racist.

Conclusion

Jackie Robinson was a very brave man who I respect for standing up to racism, as well as being one of the most legendary baseball players of all time. He possessed traits like resilience, courage, bravery, and skill. I think everyone can apply Robinson’s story and stand up to racism and prejudice.

Works Cited

• http://www.solipsis.com/jackierobinson/early_life.html
• https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/robinja02.shtml
• https://jackierobinsonchangedsports.weebly.com/index.html
• https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/historyofus/web13/features/bio/B09.html
• https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/r/rampersad-robinson.html