Brent

Brent Mackman Lit 2 4/16/10 The career of Jackie Robinson Jackie Robinson was a very large influence in American baseball, as we know it today. In fact yesterday was Jackie Robinson day in the MLB. Each player wore his number to remember the day he first played as a major league player. This day was April 15, 1947. The biggest part about him playing in the MLB was that he was the first African American to ever play professional baseball. He broke the color barrier and made it more expectable for African Americans to play professional baseball and even other professional sports. Prior to Jackie playing the MLB he played in a league invented by Rube Foster called the Negro League. He played for the Kansas City Monarchs. People really enjoyed watching the African Americans play in their league. They liked it because it was very fast paced and fun to watch. They were paid but not as much to the large sums of money that the MLB stars received. Jackie was the father of two boys and one daughter. His daughter went on to write books about Jackie’s life. His family and him were very scared when he received death threats about playing in the MLB. People said that they would kill him if he stepped foot in the Dodgers stadium or any MLB stadium. He tried to ignore these death threats and played in the MLB anyways. Along with the death threats there were many fan mail to Jackie excited about him playing. Jackie although not living a very long life definitely lived an exciting one. His first year received the rookie of the year. People loved his style of play. Jackie broke the color barrier so that the many African Americans in the MlLB have the chance to play today. He died on October 24, 1972 from diabetes. Jackie was an inspiration for all MLB players.