Jackie Robinson: The Most Famous Baseball Player

It was evident Robinson was a very successful man and had numerous accomplishments. The most obvious accomplishment was that he became the first African American to play in the Major Leagues in 1947. When that happened, he made a big breakthrough in America. He opened the door for many African American athletes and now today more than half are African American. Jackie was the main reason why there is many African American athletes, “a lot has changed in 50 years. Today, more than 1,600 black athletes play major league sports!” (Scher and Kaplan, 1997). He has been an inspiration to many people across the world by breaking the color barrier for African Americans economically, socially, and politically. Although many people did not respect Robinson nor like him to be a part of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he became the
He led the National League in stolen bases in 1947 with 29. In 1949, Robinson had a very successful year again winning the National League Most Valuable Player; lead with the highest batting average of .324, most stolen bases (37), and being selected to the All-Star Team. In 1955, he was a World Series Champion for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 becoming the first African American to receive this award. Robinson was a great baseball player but many believe he was not the best African American to play the game. His career batting average was .311 with the Brooklyn Dodgers and he led them to 6 World Series and 1 World Series Championship within a 10-year span. The number 42 is very significant in baseball today because that is the number Robinson wore. Every team in the MLB today is retired and cannot be worn by any player in the MLB. The day April 15 is known to be “Jackie Robinson Day,” on this day all the players and umpires wear the number 42 on their jerseys in remembrance of