Jackie+Robinson


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Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson is one of the most important and influential people in American history. He broke the color barrier in baseball and showed America that blacks could compete in Americas pastime. I selected Robinson for my virtual legacy because of the impact he had on his time, and on baseball. He is considered one of the most important people in sports history and in the civil rights movement. I have compiled a tribute to him starting at his early years and going up to the height of Robinson's career. Read on and you will find out how important of a man Jackie Robinson was, and remains today. Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. After his father abandoned him and his five siblings, his family moved to Pasadena, CA. There, he attended UCLA and played four sports: baseball, track and field, football and basketball. After school he was drafted into the military and served from 1942-1944. He then returned from the war and started his baseball career. In 1945 he played in the Negro Leagues for the Kansas City Monarchs. Soon after, Branch Rickey, the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers gave Jackie the chance he had waited for. Jackie signed with the Dodgers in 1946 and was designated to the Montreal Expos, one of the Dodgers minor league teams. Because of Jackie's great ability and talent that he exhibited for the Expos, the Dodgers called him up to the major leagues on April 15, 1947. From there, Jackie Robinson won 1947 rookie of the year honors and in 1949 he was the crowned the NL MVP and batting champ with a .349 AVG. Throughout Robinson's career, he experienced much racial prejudice and hatred from fans and even some of his own teammates. Robinson was able to ignore the racism and focus on baseball. Because the color barrier in baseball was broken, today many black athletes can now show their talent at the pro level.
 * By: Aidan Sullivan**

- Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson

[|http://www.history.com/players/hc_full.html?num=1&cf=224&xmldoc=/media.do?action=clipXML-id=tdih_apr15_broadband-asof]
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