Why Jackie Robinson Is My Favorite Baseball Player of All Time
Three life lessons I’ve learned from Number 42.
“Robinson dashes to the plate.”
“It’s close — and Umpire Summers calls him safe on the daring maneuver!”
Jackie Robinson stole home during game one of the 1955 World Series between the Yankees and Dodgers. Video of the steal shows that it was very close — perhaps Robinson should have been called out.
But this video also shows why Jackie Robinson is still my favorite baseball player of all time.
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Jackie Robinson dared to do what most people wouldn’t do.
When Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson, they had a long discussion about what Robinson would face. Opposing pitchers would attempt to bean him in the head, every kind of vicious racial insult would be hurled, and there would perhaps be riots protesting Robinson playing.
Because of the state of race relations in the United States, Rickey warned Robinson that he would have to endure all this unjust mistreatment and racism if the color barrier was ever going to be broken in Major League Baseball.
Jackie and his wife Rachel did indeed endure horrible things.
His challenges were many and great. He continued to find himself separated from the team at hotels and restaurants. Opposing teams continued to shout derogatory names at him and threatened to boycott any games in which he played. Angry baseball fans threatened him from the stands and through hate mail. Rachel endured much of it too as she watched from the stands and feared for her husband’s safety. Jackie quietly suffered bean balls thrown at his head, heckling from the umpires, and public hatred in the newspapers. — GeorgiaHistory.com
Today, it’s headline news if a fan, or anyone else, directs a racial slur toward an athlete. For Jackie Robinson, it wasn’t headline news — it was the daily norm.
Can you imagine what it would be like to be in his position? Such horrible things being said and done — and you have to keep your emotions under control through it all?
That took courage. Real courage.
Because Jackie Robinson — and his wife Rachel — dared to do what most people wouldn’t do, the color barrier in Major League Baseball was broken forever.
What I’ve learned from Jackie Robinson
As a child, I read every book about Jackie Robinson I could find. Not only was he a great baseball player — inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962 — but his life is inspiring.
Silence can speak louder than emotional outbursts.
Jackie Robinson’s silent perseverance under stress won people over to his side and cause.
In our world of social media, everyone believes they have to speak up and speak out to be heard. Jackie Robinson taught me that sometimes you could say more with your silence.
You can help people change.
Today, players from all over the world, who speak different languages and have every shade of skin color, play Major League Baseball.
Things have come a long way from Jackie Robinson’s first game on April 15, 1947. Jackie Robinson helped people change how they think about people who look different from themselves.
Expect opposition when you do the right thing.
Jackie Robinson accepted Branch Rickey’s offer knowing what he would face — and how he would have to respond.
Just because we do what’s right doesn’t mean people will flock to our side to support us. Often, we will face incredible opposition if we choose to do what’s right.
On April 15, 1997, Major League Baseball retired Jackie Robinson’s number 42 for every major league team.
Only today — April 15 — do players wear Robinson’s number 42.
I always love to see this day roll around because I love to remember the baseball player who taught me the most — not just on the field but also off the field.
