Jackie Robinson

1880

When the Dodgers signed Robinson, it heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s.

In what was later referred to as "The Noble Experiment", Robinson was the first black baseball player in the International League since the 1880s.

Robinson thus became the first black player to openly play for a minor league team against a major league team since the de facto baseball color line had been implemented in the 1880s. Later in spring training, after some less-than-stellar performances, Robinson was shifted from shortstop to second base, allowing him to make shorter throws to first base.

1884

No black man had played in the major leagues since Moses Fleetwood Walker in 1884, but the Boston Red Sox nevertheless held a tryout at Fenway Park for Robinson and other black players on April 16.

Robinson became the first player since 1884 to openly break the major league baseball color line.

1919

Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era.

After his death in 1972, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his achievements on and off the field. ==Early life== ===Family and personal life=== Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, into a family of sharecroppers in Cairo, Georgia.

1920

After Robinson's father left the family in 1920, they moved to Pasadena, California. The extended Robinson family established itself on a residential plot containing two small houses at 121 Pepper Street in Pasadena.

1935

As a result, Robinson joined a neighborhood gang, but his friend Carl Anderson persuaded him to abandon it. ===John Muir High School=== In 1935, Robinson graduated from Washington Junior High School and enrolled at John Muir High School (Muir Tech).

1936

Recognizing his athletic talents, Robinson's older brothers Mack (himself an accomplished athlete and silver medalist at the 1936 Summer Olympics) and Frank inspired Jackie to pursue his interest in sports. At Muir Tech, Robinson played several sports at the varsity level and lettered in four of them: football, basketball, track, and baseball.

He was also a member of the tennis team. In 1936, Robinson won the junior boys singles championship in the annual Pacific Coast Negro Tennis Tournament and earned a place on the Pomona annual baseball tournament all-star team, which included future Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Bob Lemon.

1937

In late January 1937, the Pasadena Star-News newspaper reported that Robinson "for two years has been the outstanding athlete at Muir, starring in football, basketball, track, baseball and tennis." ===Pasadena Junior College=== After Muir, Robinson attended Pasadena Junior College (PJC), where he continued his athletic career by participating in basketball, football, baseball, and track.

1938

On January 25, 1938, he was arrested after vocally disputing the detention of a black friend by police.

1940

At a time when only a few black students played mainstream college football, this made UCLA college football's most They went undefeated with four ties at In track and field, Robinson won the 1940 NCAA championship in the long jump at .

Baseball was Robinson's "worst sport" at UCLA; he hit .097 in his only season, although in his first game he went 4-for-4 and twice stole home. While a senior at UCLA, Robinson met his future wife, Rachel Isum (b.1922), a UCLA freshman who was familiar with Robinson's athletic career He played football as a senior, but the 1940 Bruins won only one game.

1941

He took a job as an assistant athletic director with the government's National Youth Administration (NYA) After the government ceased NYA operations, Robinson traveled to Honolulu in the fall of 1941 to play football for the semi-professional, racially integrated Honolulu After a short season, Robinson returned to California in December 1941 to pursue a career as running back for the Los Angeles Bulldogs of the Pacific Coast Football League.

Although the Army's initial July 1941 guidelines for OCS had been drafted as race neutral, few black applicants were admitted into OCS until after subsequent directives by Army leadership.

1942

By that time, however, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had taken place, which drew the United States into World War II and ended Robinson's nascent football career. ==Military career== In 1942, Robinson was drafted and assigned to a segregated Army cavalry unit in Fort Riley, Kansas.

1943

Upon finishing OCS, Robinson was commissioned as a second lieutenant in January 1943.

1944

Karl Downs, President of Sam Huston College (now Huston–Tillotson University) in nearby Austin, Texas; in California, Downs had been Robinson's pastor at Scott United Methodist Church while Robinson attended PJC. An event on July 6, 1944, derailed Robinson's military career.

Bates, refused to authorize the legal action, Robinson was summarily transferred to the 758th Battalion—where the commander quickly consented to charge Robinson with multiple offenses, including, among other charges, public drunkenness, even though Robinson did not drink. By the time of the court-martial in August 1944, the charges against Robinson had been reduced to two counts of insubordination during questioning.

Robinson was acquitted by an all-white panel of nine officers. Although his former unit, the 761st Tank Battalion, became the first black tank unit to see combat in World War II, Robinson's court-martial proceedings prohibited him from being deployed overseas; thus, he never saw combat action. After his acquittal, he was transferred to Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, where he served as a coach for army athletics until receiving an [discharge] in November 1944.

The job included coaching the school's basketball team for the 1944–45 season.

1945

Although his teams were outmatched by opponents, Robinson was respected as a disciplinarian coach, and drew the admiration of, among others, Langston University basketball player Marques Haynes, a future member of the Harlem Globetrotters. ==Playing career== ===Negro leagues and major league prospects=== In early 1945, while Robinson was at Sam Huston College, the Kansas City Monarchs sent him a written offer to play professional baseball in the Negro leagues.

He also appeared in the 1945 East–West All-Star Game, going hitless in five at-bats. During the season, Robinson pursued potential major league interests.

In a famous three-hour exchange on August 28, 1945, Rickey asked Robinson if he could face the racial animus without taking the bait and reacting angrily—a concern given Robinson's prior arguments with law enforcement officials at PJC and in the military.

Among those with whom Rickey discussed prospects was Wendell Smith, writer for the black weekly Pittsburgh Courier, who, according to Cleveland Indians owner and team president Bill Veeck, "influenced Rickey to take Jack Robinson, for which he's never completely gotten credit." Although he required Robinson to keep the arrangement a secret for the time being, Rickey committed to formally signing Robinson before November 1, 1945.

1946

On October 23, it was publicly announced that Robinson would be assigned to the Royals for the 1946 season.

On February 10, 1946, Robinson and Isum were married by their old friend, the Rev.

Karl Downs. ===Minor leagues=== In 1946, Robinson arrived at Daytona Beach, Florida, for spring training with the Montreal Royals of the Class AAA International League.

Robinson made his Royals debut at Daytona Beach's City Island Ballpark on March 17, 1946, in an exhibition game against the team's parent club, the Dodgers.

On April 18, 1946, Roosevelt Stadium hosted the Jersey City Giants' season opener against the Montreal Royals, marking the professional debut of the Royals' Jackie Robinson and the first time the color barrier had been broken in a game between two minor league clubs.

Whether fans supported or opposed it, Robinson's presence on the field was a boon to attendance; more than one million people went to games involving Robinson in 1946, an astounding figure by International League standards.

In the fall of 1946, following the baseball season, Robinson returned home to California and briefly played professional basketball for the short-lived Los Angeles Red Devils. ===Major leagues=== ====Breaking the color barrier (1947)==== In 1947, the Dodgers called Robinson up to the major leagues six days before the start of the season.

The house, at 8232 avenue de Gaspé near Jarry Park, was Robinson's residence when he played for the Montreal Royals during 1946.

1947

Robinson broke the baseball color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.

Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. During his 10-year MLB career, Robinson won the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949—the first black player so honored.

In the fall of 1946, following the baseball season, Robinson returned home to California and briefly played professional basketball for the short-lived Los Angeles Red Devils. ===Major leagues=== ====Breaking the color barrier (1947)==== In 1947, the Dodgers called Robinson up to the major leagues six days before the start of the season.

Robinson made his debut in a Dodgers uniform wearing number 42 on April 11, 1947, in a preseason exhibition game against the New York Yankees at Ebbets Field with 24,237 in attendance.

Dutton Award in 1947 for Best Sports Reporting.

On April 22, 1947, during a game between the Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies, Phillies players and manager Ben Chapman called Robinson a "nigger" from their dugout and yelled that he should "go back to the cotton fields".

Color is not one of them." In 1947 or 1948, Reese is said to have put his arm around Robinson in response to fans who shouted racial slurs at Robinson before a game in Boston or Cincinnati.

Larry Doby (who broke the color barrier in the American League on July 5, 1947, just 11 weeks after Robinson) and Satchel Paige played for the Cleveland Indians, and the Dodgers had three other black players besides Robinson.

[His] accomplishments allowed black and white Americans to be more respectful and open to one another and more appreciative of everyone's abilities." Beginning his major league career at the relatively advanced age of 28, he played only ten seasons from 1947 to 1956, all of them for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

He scored more than 100 runs in six of his ten seasons (averaging more than 110 runs from 1947 to 1953), had a .311 career batting average, a .409 career on-base percentage, a .474 slugging percentage, and substantially more walks than strikeouts (740 to 291).

Robinson was one of only two players during the span of 1947–56 to accumulate at least 125 steals while registering a slugging percentage over .425 (Minnie Miñoso was the other).

His youngest son, David, who has ten children, is a coffee grower and social activist in Tanzania. ==Awards and recognition== According to a poll conducted in 1947, Robinson was the second most popular man in the country, behind Bing Crosby.

In 1987, both the National and American League Rookie of the Year Awards were renamed the "Jackie Robinson Award" in honor of the first recipient (Robinson's Major League Rookie of the Year Award in 1947 encompassed both leagues).

The school also announced it would prominently display the number at all of its athletic venues. A jersey that Robinson brought home with him after his rookie season ended in 1947 was sold at an auction for $2.05 million on November 19, 2017.

1948

Color is not one of them." In 1947 or 1948, Reese is said to have put his arm around Robinson in response to fans who shouted racial slurs at Robinson before a game in Boston or Cincinnati.

His cumulative performance earned him the inaugural Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award (separate National and American League Rookie of the Year honors were not awarded until 1949). ====MVP, Congressional testimony, and film biography (1948–1950)==== Following Stanky's trade to the Boston Braves in March 1948, Robinson took over second base, where he logged a .980 fielding percentage that year (second in the National League at the position, fractionally behind Stanky).

Louis Cardinals on August 29, 1948, he hit for the cycle—a [run], a triple, a double, and a single in the same game.

The Dodgers briefly moved into first place in the National League in late August 1948, but they ultimately finished third as the Braves went on to win the league title and lose to the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. Racial pressure on Robinson eased in 1948 when a number of other black players entered the major leagues.

In February 1948, he signed a $12,500 contract (equal to $ today) with the Dodgers; while a significant amount, this was less than Robinson made in the off-season from a vaudeville tour, where he answered pre-set baseball questions and a speaking tour of the South.

In 1948, Wendell Smith's book, Jackie Robinson: My Own Story, was released. In the spring of 1949, Robinson turned to Hall of Famer George Sisler, working as an advisor to the Dodgers, for batting help.

The tutelage helped Robinson raise his batting average from .296 in 1948 to .342 in 1949.

After World War II, several other forces were also leading the country toward increased equality for blacks, including their accelerated migration to the North, where their political clout grew, and President Harry Truman's desegregation of the military in 1948.

1949

Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. During his 10-year MLB career, Robinson won the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949—the first black player so honored.

His cumulative performance earned him the inaugural Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award (separate National and American League Rookie of the Year honors were not awarded until 1949). ====MVP, Congressional testimony, and film biography (1948–1950)==== Following Stanky's trade to the Boston Braves in March 1948, Robinson took over second base, where he logged a .980 fielding percentage that year (second in the National League at the position, fractionally behind Stanky).

In 1948, Wendell Smith's book, Jackie Robinson: My Own Story, was released. In the spring of 1949, Robinson turned to Hall of Famer George Sisler, working as an advisor to the Dodgers, for batting help.

The tutelage helped Robinson raise his batting average from .296 in 1948 to .342 in 1949.

Baseball fans also voted Robinson as the starting second baseman for the 1949 All-Star Game—the first All-Star Game to include black players. That year, a song about Robinson by Buddy Johnson, "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?", reached number 13 on the charts; Count Basie recorded a famous version.

Ultimately, the Dodgers won the National League pennant, but lost in five games to the New York Yankees in the 1949 World Series. Summer 1949 brought an unwanted distraction for Robinson.

1950

Robinson was reluctant to testify, but he eventually agreed to do so, fearing it might negatively affect his career if he declined. In 1950, Robinson led the National League in double plays made by a second baseman with 133.

In late 1950, Rickey's contract as the Dodgers' team President expired.

He led the league in fielding among second basemen in 1950 and 1951.

He come to stuff the goddamn bat right up your ass." ===Portrayals on stage, film and television=== Robinson portrayed himself in the 1950 motion picture The Jackie Robinson Story.

1951

Robinson was disappointed at the turn of events and wrote a sympathetic letter to Rickey, whom he considered a father figure, stating, "Regardless of what happens to me in the future, it all can be placed on what you have done and, believe me, I appreciate it." ====Pennant races and outside interests (1951–1953)==== Before the 1951 season, O'Malley reportedly offered Robinson the job of manager of the Montreal Royals, effective at the end of Robinson's playing career.

O'Malley was quoted in the Montreal Standard as saying, "Jackie told me that he would be both delighted and honored to tackle this managerial post"—although reports differed as to whether a position was ever formally offered. During the 1951 season, Robinson led the National League in double plays made by a second baseman for the second year in a row, with 137.

He also kept the Dodgers in contention for the 1951 pennant.

This forced a best-of-three playoff series against the crosstown rival New York Giants. Despite Robinson's regular-season heroics, on October 3, 1951, the Dodgers lost the pennant on Bobby Thomson's famous home run, known as the Shot Heard 'Round the World.

He led the league in fielding among second basemen in 1950 and 1951.

1952

Dodgers sportscaster Vin Scully later noted that the incident showed "how much of a competitor Robinson was." He finished the season with 106 runs scored, a batting average of .335, and 25 stolen bases. Robinson had what was an average year for him in 1952.

The Dodgers improved on their performance from the year before, winning the National League pennant before losing the 1952 World Series to the New York Yankees in seven games.

He believed that everything unpleasant that happened to him happened because of his blackness." The 1952 season was the last year Robinson was an everyday starter at second base.

1953

He had hoped to gain experience by managing in the Puerto Rican Winter League, but according to the New York Post, Commissioner Happy Chandler denied the request. In 1953, Robinson had 109 runs, a .329 batting average, and 17 steals, leading the Dodgers to another National League pennant (and another World Series loss to the Yankees, this time in six games).

He scored more than 100 runs in six of his ten seasons (averaging more than 110 runs from 1947 to 1953), had a .311 career batting average, a .409 career on-base percentage, a .474 slugging percentage, and substantially more walks than strikeouts (740 to 291).

1954

Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. During his 10-year MLB career, Robinson won the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949—the first black player so honored.

Louis. ====World Championship and retirement (1954–1956)==== In 1954, Robinson had 62 runs scored, a .311 batting average, and 7 steals.

1955

Robinson played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers' 1955 World Series championship. In 1997, MLB retired his uniform number 42 across all major league teams; he was the first professional athlete in any sport to be so honored.

The following autumn, Robinson won his only championship when the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in the 1955 World Series.

Although the team enjoyed ultimate success, 1955 was the worst year of Robinson's individual career.

1956

That season, the Dodgers' Don Newcombe became the first black major league pitcher to win twenty games in a year. In 1956, Robinson had 61 runs scored, a .275 batting average, and 12 steals.

Robinson ended his major league career when he struck out to end Game 7 of the 1956 World Series.

[His] accomplishments allowed black and white Americans to be more respectful and open to one another and more appreciative of everyone's abilities." Beginning his major league career at the relatively advanced age of 28, he played only ten seasons from 1947 to 1956, all of them for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In December 1956, the NAACP recognized him with the Spingarn Medal, which it awards annually for the highest achievement by an African-American.

1957

From 1957 to 1964, Robinson was the vice president for personnel at Chock full o'Nuts; he was the first black person to serve as vice president of a major American corporation.

Robinson also chaired the NAACP's million-dollar Freedom Fund Drive in 1957, and served on the organization's board until 1967.

1959

He left the tryout humiliated, and more than 14 years later, in July 1959, the Red Sox became the last major league team to integrate its roster. Other teams, however, had more serious interest in signing a black ballplayer.

Although Robinson adopted an insulin injection regimen, the state of medicine at the time could not prevent the continued deterioration of Robinson's physical condition from the disease. In October 1959, Robinson entered the Greenville Municipal Airport's whites-only waiting room.

1960

In the 1960s, he helped establish the Freedom National Bank, an African-American-owned financial institution based in Harlem, New York.

After supporting Richard Nixon in his 1960 presidential race against John F.

1962

Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. During his 10-year MLB career, Robinson won the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949—the first black player so honored.

The following January, approximately 1,000 people marched on New Year's Day to the airport, which was desegregated shortly thereafter. In his first year of eligibility for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, Robinson encouraged voters to consider only his on-field qualifications, rather than his cultural impact on the game.

1964

From 1957 to 1964, Robinson was the vice president for personnel at Chock full o'Nuts; he was the first black person to serve as vice president of a major American corporation.

In 1964, he helped found, with Harlem businessman Dunbar McLaurin, Freedom National Bank—a black-owned and operated commercial bank based in Harlem.

Robinson was angered by conservative Republican opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

He became one of six national directors for Nelson Rockefeller's unsuccessful campaign to be nominated as the Republican candidate for the 1964 presidential election.

1965

He was elected on the first ballot, becoming the first black player inducted into the Cooperstown museum. In 1965, Robinson served as an analyst for ABC's Major League Baseball Game of the Week telecasts, the first black person to do so.

He enrolled in the Army in search of a disciplined environment, served in the Vietnam War, and was wounded in action on November 19, 1965.

1966

In 1966, Robinson was hired as general manager for the short-lived Brooklyn Dodgers of the Continental Football League.

He later became special assistant for community affairs when Rockefeller was re-elected governor of New York in 1966.

1967

Robinson also chaired the NAACP's million-dollar Freedom Fund Drive in 1957, and served on the organization's board until 1967.

1968

Switching his allegiance to the Democrats, he subsequently supported Hubert Humphrey against Nixon in 1968. Robinson protested against the major leagues' ongoing lack of minority managers and central office personnel, and he turned down an invitation to appear in an old-timers' game at Yankee Stadium in 1969.

1969

Switching his allegiance to the Democrats, he subsequently supported Hubert Humphrey against Nixon in 1968. Robinson protested against the major leagues' ongoing lack of minority managers and central office personnel, and he turned down an invitation to appear in an old-timers' game at Yankee Stadium in 1969.

1970

In 1970, Robinson established the Jackie Robinson Construction Company to build housing for low-income families. Robinson was active in politics throughout his post-baseball life.

Despite the success of these two Robinsons and other black players, the number of African-American players in Major League Baseball has declined since the 1970s. ==Family life and death== After Robinson's retirement from baseball, his wife Rachel Robinson pursued a career in academic nursing.

1971

On June 17, 1971, he was killed in an automobile accident at age 24.

1972

Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era.

After his death in 1972, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his achievements on and off the field. ==Early life== ===Family and personal life=== Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, into a family of sharecroppers in Cairo, Georgia.

In 1972, he served as a part-time commentator on Montreal Expos telecasts. On June 4, 1972, the Dodgers retired his uniform number, 42, alongside those of Roy Campanella (39) and Sandy Koufax (32).

He made his final public appearance on October 15, 1972, throwing the ceremonial first pitch before Game 2 of the World Series at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

On October 24, 1972, Robinson died of a heart attack at his home on 95 Cascade Road in North Stamford, Connecticut; he was 53 years old.

Robinson's funeral service on October 27, 1972, at Upper Manhattan's Riverside Church in Morningside Heights, attracted 2,500 mourners.

1976

His home in Brooklyn, the Jackie Robinson House, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976, and Brooklyn residents sought to turn his home into a city landmark.

1978

In 1978, Colonial Park in Harlem was renamed after Robinson.

1982

Robinson has also been honored by the United States Postal Service on three separate postage stamps, in 1982, 1999, and 2000. The City of Pasadena has recognized Robinson with a baseball diamond and stadium named Jackie Robinson Field in Brookside Park next to the Rose Bowl, and with the Jackie Robinson Center (a community outreach center providing health services).

1984

Robinson was among the 25 charter members of UCLA's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984.

President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded Robinson the Presidential Medal of Freedom on March 26, 1984, and on March 2, 2005, President George W.

1987

In 1987, both the National and American League Rookie of the Year Awards were renamed the "Jackie Robinson Award" in honor of the first recipient (Robinson's Major League Rookie of the Year Award in 1947 encompassed both leagues).

1990

She also served on the board of the Freedom National Bank until it closed in 1990.

City Island Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Florida was renamed Jackie Robinson Ballpark in 1990 and a statue of Robinson with two children stands in front of the ballpark.

1997

Robinson played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers' 1955 World Series championship. In 1997, MLB retired his uniform number 42 across all major league teams; he was the first professional athlete in any sport to be so honored.

On April 15, 1997, Robinson's jersey number, 42, was retired throughout Major League Baseball, the first time any jersey number had been retired throughout one of the four major American sports leagues.

Since 1997, only Wayne Gretzky's number 99, retired by the NHL in 2000, has been retired league-wide in any of the four major sports.

In 1997, the United States Mint issued a Jackie Robinson commemorative silver dollar, and five-dollar gold coin.

1998

A statue of Robinson at Journal Square Transportation Center in Jersey City, New Jersey, was dedicated in 1998. In 2011, the U.S.

1999

In 1999, he was posthumously named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Robinson's career is generally considered to mark the beginning of the post–"long ball" era in baseball, in which a reliance on raw power-hitting gave way to balanced offensive strategies that used footspeed to create runs through aggressive baserunning.

In 1999, he was named by Time on its list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

Also in 1999, he ranked number 44 on the Sporting News list of Baseball's 100 Greatest Players and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team as the top vote-getter among second basemen.

Robinson has also been honored by the United States Postal Service on three separate postage stamps, in 1982, 1999, and 2000. The City of Pasadena has recognized Robinson with a baseball diamond and stadium named Jackie Robinson Field in Brookside Park next to the Rose Bowl, and with the Jackie Robinson Center (a community outreach center providing health services).

2000

Robinson has also been honored by the United States Postal Service on three separate postage stamps, in 1982, 1999, and 2000. The City of Pasadena has recognized Robinson with a baseball diamond and stadium named Jackie Robinson Field in Brookside Park next to the Rose Bowl, and with the Jackie Robinson Center (a community outreach center providing health services).

Since 1997, only Wayne Gretzky's number 99, retired by the NHL in 2000, has been retired league-wide in any of the four major sports.

2002

In 2002, Molefi Kete Asante included Robinson on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.

2004

MLB also adopted a new annual tradition, "Jackie Robinson Day", for the first time on April 15, 2004, on which every player on every team wears No. 42. Robinson's character, his use of nonviolence, and his talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation that had then marked many other aspects of American life.

There have also been calls for MLB to retire number 21 league-wide in honor of Roberto Clemente, a sentiment opposed by the Robinson family. As an exception to the retired-number policy, MLB began honoring Robinson by allowing players to wear number 42 on April 15, Jackie Robinson Day, which is an annual observance that started in 2004.

The New York Yankees honor Robinson with a plaque in Monument Park. Since 2004, the Aflac National High School Baseball Player of the Year has been presented the "Jackie Robinson Award". Robinson has also been recognized outside of baseball.

2005

A statue by sculptor William Behrends, unveiled at KeySpan Park on November 1, 2005, depicts Reese with his arm around Robinson.

President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded Robinson the Presidential Medal of Freedom on March 26, 1984, and on March 2, 2005, President George W.

2006

In 2009, all of MLB's uniformed personnel (including players) wore number 42 on April 15; this tradition has continued every year since on that date. At the November 2006 groundbreaking for Citi Field, the new ballpark for the New York Mets, it was announced that the main entrance, modeled on the one in Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field, would be called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda.

2007

For the 60th anniversary of Robinson's major league debut, MLB invited players to wear the number 42 on Jackie Robinson Day in 2007.

On August 20, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, announced that Robinson was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento. A number of buildings have been named in Robinson's honor.

2008

On April 15, 2008, she announced that in 2010 the foundation would open a museum devoted to Jackie in Lower Manhattan.

The tribute was continued in 2008, when, during games on April 15, all members of the Mets, Cardinals, Washington Nationals, and Tampa Bay Rays wore Robinson's number 42.

On June 25, 2008, MLB installed a new plaque for Robinson at the Baseball Hall of Fame commemorating his off-the-field impact on the game as well as his playing statistics.

2009

In 2009, all of MLB's uniformed personnel (including players) wore number 42 on April 15; this tradition has continued every year since on that date. At the November 2006 groundbreaking for Citi Field, the new ballpark for the New York Mets, it was announced that the main entrance, modeled on the one in Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field, would be called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda.

The rotunda was dedicated at the opening of Citi Field on April 16, 2009.

2010

On April 15, 2008, she announced that in 2010 the foundation would open a museum devoted to Jackie in Lower Manhattan.

2011

A statue of Robinson at Journal Square Transportation Center in Jersey City, New Jersey, was dedicated in 1998. In 2011, the U.S.

2013

The Yankees' Mariano Rivera, who retired at the end of the 2013 season, was the last player in Major League Baseball to wear jersey number 42 on a regular basis.

The stadium also unveiled a new mural of Robinson by Mike Sullivan on April 14, 2013.

2014

The people were so welcoming and saw Jack as a player and as a man." On November 22, 2014, UCLA announced that it would officially retire the number 42 across all university sports, effective immediately.

2017

At Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, a statue of Robinson was introduced in 2017.

The school also announced it would prominently display the number at all of its athletic venues. A jersey that Robinson brought home with him after his rookie season ended in 1947 was sold at an auction for $2.05 million on November 19, 2017.

2020

Along with the museum, scholarships will be awarded to "young people who live by and embody Jackie's ideals." The museum hopes to open by 2020.

2021

This parkway bisects the cemetery in close proximity to Robinson's gravesite. After Robinson's death, his widow founded the Jackie Robinson Foundation, and she remains an officer as of 2021.




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