Jackie Robinson Essays -- Sports, Dodgers, First Black Player

Throughout his professional career, Jackie Robinson, received criticism for being the initial cruddy ladderer to play the game. Not only if did Jackie Robinson manage to rifle up to the criticism, he also changed the face of Americas sterling(prenominal) past time for forever. With his entrance into the MLB he opened the path for broad black players like Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, and Ozzie Smith just to name a few. In crossing the color-barrier in baseball Robinson not only strived as a great player on the field, but also a eagerness to the black community of the field with his humility, and willingness to move forward in a time where blacks were not considered equal. Jackie Robinson was oneness of the most pro put together individuals to ever walk on this earth. Robinson established a reputation as a man who never tolerated insults to his dignity (Kahn 6). One of his accomplishments was entering the major leagues and is one of the most remarkable and inspir ing accomplishments in sports history. When Robinson became the first black to play in Major League Baseball, he changed Americans views on racism forever.Robinson was born(p) the youngest of five children near Cairo, Georgia, on January 31, 1919. Robinsons father, a sharecropper, left the family when Robinson was only about 2 years old. His mother, named Mallie McGriff Robinson, moved to Pasadena, California, to find work. (James 5) Trouble found Robinson at an early age, when he became a member of the Pasadena gang (7). At that school, he played several sports. He even lettered in track, baseball, football, and basketball. His largest inspiration was most likely his older brother Matthew. He was a shortstop and catcher on the baseball team, a quarterback on the football team, a guard... ...a lifetime batting average of .311. He appeared in six All-Star Games and six World Series with the Dodgers. At the 1972 World Series, which commemorated the twenty-fifth anniversary of his ro okie season, a physically deteriorating but still crusading Robinson, a diabetic, said he hoped to live to see blacks in baseball focusing jobs. Nine days later, he died of a heart attack at the young age of 53.Today, with the dominance of black players in professional sports, it seems countless that a mere 50 years ago, not only were black athletes absent in all mainstream sporting arenas, it was simply not an weft and even illegal in some states. His legacy is the inspiration he gives to athletes and people of all color. Robinson is heroic, in part, because of the excellence of his athletic achievement and equally important, for his political commitment to racial equality.