In 1944, Jackie Robinson signed on with a team in the Negro League, the Kansas City Monarchs. Before long, he was receiving national attention for his incredible skill. He was noticed not only by blacks, but also by the white president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey. Rickey was determined to integrate Major League Baseball and decided that Robinson was the player to do it. He signed Robinson to the Montreal Royals, the minor affiliate of the Dodgers, in 1945. He moved to Florida in 1946 to begin spring training, and played his first game with them on March 17 of that year. He played outstandingly well, batting with a .349 average and .985 fielding percentage. These stats made Rickey decide to pull him up to play in Brooklyn.
When he moved up to the Dodgers the next year, Robinson promised Rickey that he wouldn't respond to any of the jeers, taunts, threats, and insults that were hurled at him daily. Many other teams threatened to refuse to take the field against him, some of his own teammates refused to play with him for a time, and both fans and opposing dugouts were exceptionally cruel to him while playing. But there were many people who fought on Robinson's side, including League President Ford Frick, Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler, and Dodgers shortstop and captain Pee Wee Reese. With this support, not to mention his own personal resolve, Robinson went on to hit 12 home runs that first year, helped the Dodgers win the National League pennant, led the National League in stolen bases, and won Rookie of the Year.
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In his ten years with the Dodgers, Robinson helped the team win the National League pennant seven times, and, in 1955, the team finally won the World Series. Robinson helped the Dodgers win one more pennant the following season, then was going to be traded to the New York Giants. Rather than join the Dodgers' hated rivals, Robinson retired from baseball in 1957. He ended his career with a .311 batting average and a total of 197 stolen bases.
Jackie Robinson Foundation. "About Jackie Robinson." The Jackie Robinson
Foundation. Last modified 2011. Accessed May 29, 2014.
http://www.jackierobinson.org/about/jackie.php.
"Jackie Robinson game footage .mp4." Video file, 2:12. Youtube. Posted by
BFTGUcom, March 2, 2011. Accessed May 27, 2014. https://www.youtube.com.
Jackie Robinson Waving Goodbye. http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/
rights-managed/U1121957/jackie-robinson-waving-goodbye.
The story of the most famous Jackie Robinson Montreal Royals photo.
http://cooperstownersincanada.com/2013/01/18/
the-story-of-the-most-famous-jackie-robinson-montreal-royals-photo/.
Foundation. Last modified 2011. Accessed May 29, 2014.
http://www.jackierobinson.org/about/jackie.php.
"Jackie Robinson game footage .mp4." Video file, 2:12. Youtube. Posted by
BFTGUcom, March 2, 2011. Accessed May 27, 2014. https://www.youtube.com.
Jackie Robinson Waving Goodbye. http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/
rights-managed/U1121957/jackie-robinson-waving-goodbye.
The story of the most famous Jackie Robinson Montreal Royals photo.
http://cooperstownersincanada.com/2013/01/18/
the-story-of-the-most-famous-jackie-robinson-montreal-royals-photo/.