Monday, October 24, 2005

Remembering Jack Roosevelt Robinson...

Jackie Robinson was a 27-year old rookie when he became the first black player in major league history, so it stands to reason that we wouldn't have this multi-talented athlete with us that long. Jackie would give us more talent and excitement in 10 years than some players who played twice as long. Jackie Robinson would debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947 and win Rookie of the Year honors in his first season. He would finish his career with a .311 batting average and an MVP award in 1949, the same year he would lead the National League with a .342 batting average. He appeared in 6 World Series including the year the Dodgers won the fall classic in 1955. He was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1962...

After Jackie had played his last game as a Dodger, the only team he would ever play for, on September 30, 1956 he was sold to the cross-town rival Giants but Robinson chose to retire at 37 instead. Robinson, a 4-sport star at UCLA joined the corporate world following his retirement, becoming a vice-president with the Chock Full O' Nuts corporation, then served on the board of the NAACP until 1967...

Robinson's final years were marked by tragedy, losing his elder son, Jackie, Jr. to an automobile crash in 1971. His health deteriorated due to the diabetes that plagued him in mid-life. He was virtually blind and suffered severe heart problems before passing away on October 24, 1972 at the age of 53. By his side, as she was throughout his life was wife Rachel who Jackie had met at UCLA...

In 1997, Jackie's famous #42 was retired throughout Major League Baseball, never to be worn again. It was the first and only such honor awarded a player...

Some personal memories of Jackie Robinson in my commentary...

More October 24 Memories...

1929) The stock market crashes on 'Black Thursday'...

1931) The George Washington Bridge connecting New York and New Jersey opens...

1945) The United Nations officially comes into existence...

1949) The cornerstone for the U.N. Headquarters is laid in Manhattan...

1962) The U.S. blockade of Cuba officially begins...

1967) Lulu is #1 with "To Sir With Love"...

1973) Heavy fog causes a 65-car collision killing 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike...

1980) Paul McCartney is honored by the Guinness Book of World Records for being the best-selling songwriter and recording artist in music history...

1987) NBC technicians accept a new contract, ending a 118-day strike...

1988) The Islanders' Mike Bossy retires...

1989) The Reverend Jim Bakker is sentenced to 50 years for fraud (in 1991 his sentence is reduced to 18 years and he's released after serving 5)...

1989) Hank Ballard, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Bobby Darin, the Four Tops, the Four Seasons, the Kinks, Carole King and Gerry Goffin, the Platters, the Who, Simon & Garfunkel are all inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame...

1992) The Toronto Blue Jays become the 1st team outside the U.S. to win the World Series (over the Atlanta Braves in 6 games)...

1997) Former NBC sportscaster Marv Albert is spared a jail sentence after a court room apology to the woman he sunk his bicuspids in during a sexual encounter...

1999) Ricky Williams of Texas University becomes the leading scorer in Division 1-A history with his 2 TD's against Baylor to give him 428 career points (breaking the record of Roman Anderson (who ?) of Houston in 1989)...

2002) Army veteran John Allen Muhammad and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo are arrested in connection with the Washington D.C. area sniper attacks...

2003) The last commercial SST Concorde flight lands in London...

Happy Birthday To...

1926) Former Giant QB Y.A. Tittle...

1936) David (Ricky's older 'bro) Nelson...

1936) The Rolling Stones' Bill Wyman...

1947) Kevin Kline...

1975) Patriot running back Corey Dillon...

Commentary...

When I would go to Ebbets Field with either my sister or cousin (both Dodger fans) we would often wait in the player's parking lot to get autographs after the game. This is something you could do without paying for it in the 50's. Most of the Dodgers were good guys and would give you an autograph if you got to them before they would hurry off to their cars but one exception was Jackie Robinson who would quickly brush by you and be off. Little did we know of the death threats and hate mail he received that made him uneasy with fans. We wouldn't find that out until his playing days were over...

In Jackie Robinson's final playing days his hair had already started graying and he walked more deliberately with a limp off the playing field. He was literally aging as you watched him. You just knew you were seeing the end of a brief but great career...

Jackie would die 16 years after playing his last game, on this date, October 24th in 1972...