Sports
Related: About this forumIt's Jackie Robinson's 100th birthday
NBC Sports / January 31st, 2019
Today is the 100th anniversary of Jackie Robinsons birth.
At this point its hard to say anything about Robinson that any baseball fan has not already heard, over and over again. But then again, its impossible to overstate the significance of the fact that it was only 72 years-ago that he became the first black man to play major league baseball in the modern era. Its not ancient history. My dad was alive at a time when only white men were allowed to play baseball. Our current president was too. So too were players as recent as Nolan Ryan and Reggie Jackson.
Though you almost certainly know the general parameters of Robinsons accomplishments, you should nonetheless take some extra time to reacquaint yourself with Robinsons story once again. Today the New York Times has a fantastic set of images and personal essays about Robinson and his legacy. You should go check out Jackies Baseball-Reference.com page too, as we sometimes spend so much time talking about his historical significance that we forget he was a hell of a baseball player regardless. Its also worth remembering that Robinsons post-playing career, which includes a lot of important work in the civil rights movement, was also significant.
Finally, let us take a moment to acknowledge that history has a funny way of sanding the edges off of important civil rights figures after they die in order to make them more palatable or useful to people in the here and now. People like Robinson, who drew all kinds of ire in life, are cast as being universally beloved later on. Thats fine as far as it goes, but its not fine that they are often, at the same time, held up as standing for an awful lot of things they didnt or wouldnt, in reality, stand for in life.
MORE: https://news.yahoo.com/jackie-robinson-100th-birthday-164713060.html
True Dough
(17,305 posts)Legend.
Hero.
Take your pick (or all of the above).
soryang
(3,299 posts)My mom knew Branch Rickey, Pee Wee Reese, and had met Jackie Robinson as well while working for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Duppers
(28,125 posts)I loved the movie.
soryang
(3,299 posts)She used to say that Branch Rickey was very nice and that Pee Wee Reese was a great guy. When I saw the movie I understood what she meant.
I know she was aware of the racism and controversy surrounding Jackie Robinson and his treatment, because she frequently pointed out discrimination and prejudice wherever she saw it. Whenever we saw Jackie on tv, she would say that man is a hero. I think this experience with the Dodgers shaped her perspective. I'm pretty sure she worked there in the summers of 47 and 48. She was a receptionist and met the players when they came into the "main office."
I'm sorry she didn't live long enough to see the film. She would have loved it, too.
Duppers
(28,125 posts)Thoroughly enjoyed reading your post.
murielm99
(30,745 posts)and heard it all, but a Chicago legend wrote a column about Robinson's debut in Chicago that brings tears to my eyes.
Read the second column, written by the late, great Mike Royko. The title is: Jackie's Debut a Unique Day.
https://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/730719.html
Auggie
(31,173 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,444 posts)El Supremo
(20,365 posts)I wish she could live forever.
40RatRod
(532 posts)I saw him play an exhibition game when the Dodgers came through Knoxville Tennessee after spring training. He hit a home run and a friend got the ball and gave it to me. Jackie was one of a kind and my favorite of all time. Thank you so much for posting this!!!!