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Jackie Robinson's Role In Major League Baseball

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Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the MLB. Jackie was drafted into the MLB in 1947, and in 1955 he helped the Brooklyn Dodgers win a World Series Championship. Jackie Robinson should be remembered because he broke the color barrier when he became the first black athlete to play Major League Baseball. Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia(Jackie Robinson Bio). Jackie also had 4 other siblings. Robinson was raised only by his mother because his dad walked out on them when he was young. He attended John Muir High School and Pasadena Junior College, where he was an excellent athlete and played four sports: football, basketball, track, and baseball (Jackie Robinson Bio). Jackie continued his education and went to college at UCLA. Where he became the university's first student to win varsity letters in four sports (Jackie Robinson Bio). Robinson was forced to leave UCLA just shy of graduation due to financial hardship. He moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he played football for the semi-professional Honolulu Bears (Jackie Robinson Bio). In Hawaii playing football he played running back. In 1942 to 1944, Robinson served in the United States Army, as a second lieutenant. During boot camp at Fort Hood, Texas, Robinson was arrested for refusing …show more content…
He was the MLB Rookie of the Year in 1947, he was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons, and won the Most Valuable Player Award in 1949, the first African American player to receive this award. Robinson played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers' 1955 World Series Championship (“Jackie Robinson Wiki”). In 1997, MLB "universally" retired his uniform number, 42, across all major league teams; he was the first pro athlete in any sport to be so honored. MLB also adopted a new annual tradition, "Jackie Robinson Day", for the first time on April 15 every player on every team wears No. 42 (“Jackie Robinson

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