Jackie Robinson (1962)


Date of Birth: 1/31/1919
Date of Death: 10/24/1972
Birthplace: Cairo, Georgia
College: Pasadena City College, UCLA

Jackie Robinson, the first African-American major league baseball player, played for 10 years with the Brooklyn Dodgers. MLB retired Robinson's number (#42) in 1997. The last player to wear the number was Mariano Rivera, who retired in 2013.

Robinson had an older brother, Mack, who won a Silver medal in track and field at the 1936 Olympics. By the time he was in high school, Jackie, too, was an excellent athlete, excelling in football, basketball, track, baseball, and tennis. He started his amateur baseball career as both a shortstop and a catcher. In 1936, the year of his brother's major achievement, Jackie played with future Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Bob Lemon on the all-star team in the Pomona Baseball Tournament.

After high school, Robinson went to Pasadena Junior College, where he was again an all around outstanding athlete. In 1939, he went to UCLA and proved once more that he was a gifted athlete. Surprisingly, his worst sport at UCLA was baseball.

Robinson was drafted into the army in 1942, during WW II. He served in the army until 1944. After returning to civilian life, he worked as the athletic director at Samuel Huston College in Austin, Texas, in 1944 and 1945. He left that position in 1945 to join the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League.

Brooklyn Dodgers

Robinson's career in the major leagues came in 1945, when he was signed by Branch Rickey to be the first African-American player to join the Brooklyn Dodgers and major league baseball. He spent 1946 in the minor leagues and joined the Dodgers the following year.

Robinson played first base in 1947, but he was moved to second base the following season. He continued to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers through the 1956 season.

In his first season with the Dodgers, Robinson batted .297 with 175 hits, 31 doubles, a league leading 29 stolen bases, 48 RBIs, and 36 strikeouts to 74 walks in 151 games. He was rewarded for his efforts with the first MLB Rookie of the Year award. He also won the Sporting News Rookie of the Year award. Defensively, he also excelled, leading the National League in double plays at first base with 144. He was third in assists (92) and putouts (1,323). In his first postseason, he batted .259 with 7 hits, 2 stolen bases, and 3 RBIs in 27 at-bats in 7 games. He struck out four times and walked twice.

In 1948, 1950, and 1951, Robinson showed his outstanding fielding abilities, excelling at second base. He led the National League in fielding percentage all three years. He also led the NL in putouts (390) and assists (435) in 1951.

Robinson batted .296 in 1948. He had 170 hits, 38 doubles, 22 stolen bases, and 85 RBIs. Defensively, he made 315 assists, 80 double plays, and 308 putouts in 116 games and he had a .980 fielding percentage.

The 1949 season was Robinson's best one. That year, he led the NL in batting average and stolen bases and he won the NL MVP award. He had career highs in games played (156), hits (203), stolen bases (37), triples (12), RBIs (124), and batting average (.342). He also had 38 doubles and 27 strikeouts to 86 walks. Defensively, he led all NL second basemen in double plays turned with 119. He didn't fare well, however, in the postseason, batting just .188 with 3 hits and 2 RBIs in 16 at-bats in 5 games.

From 1950 through 1954, Robinson continued to excel offensively, having a batting average over .300 in each of those seasons. He also showed his keen eye and discipline by consistently having significantly more walks than strikeouts.

In 1950, Robinson had a career high 39 doubles in 144 games. He batted .328 with 170 hits, 12 stolen bases, 81 RBIs, and 24 strikeouts to 80 walks. Defensively, he made 390 assists, 133 double plays, 359 putouts, and 11 errors, and he had a .986 fielding percentage.

Robinson spent time in the 1950 off-season playing himself in the film, "The Jackie Robinson Story." Although he wasn't a great actor, his presence in the film gives credibility to the facts portrayed in it. The film focuses primarily on his recruitment by Branch Rickey and his first years in the minor leagues and his entrance into the major leagues.

Robinson had a career high 19 home runs in 1951. He finished that season with 185 hits, 33 doubles, 25 stolen bases, 88 RBIs, 27 strikeouts to 79 walks, and a .338 batting average in 153 games. Defensively, he led the NL in assists with 435, double plays turned with 138, and putouts with 390. He had a .992 fielding percentage in 150 games.

Robinson had another outstanding offensive season in 1952, leading the NL in on-base-percentage with .440. He had 157 hits, 19 home runs (a career high), 24 stolen bases, 75 RBIs, and a .308 batting average. He walked a career high 106 times, while striking out just 40 times. It was the last season when Robinson stole 20 or more bases. Once again, in the postseason, he didn't play well, finishing with a .174 batting average in 23 at-bats in 7 games.

In 1953, Robinson batted .329 with 159 hits, 34 doubles, 95 RBIs, and 30 strikeouts to 74 walks in 136 games. He had a strong postseason, finishing with a .320 batting average in 25 at-bats in 6 games. The following season was his last strong one offensively. In 1954, he had his last season with a batting average over .300 (he batted .311). He played in 124 games and he had 22 doubles and 59 RBIs.

Robinson struggled in his last two seasons, batting a career low of .256 in 1955 and .275 in 1956. His playing time was limited both seasons, playing in just 105 games in 1955 and in 117 games the following season. He still continued, however, to walk more times than he struck out (61 walks to 18 strikeouts in 1955 and 60 walks ot 32 strikeouts in 1956). In 1956, his last postseason and his last games as a major league player, he batted .250 with 6 hits, including a home run, and 2 RBIs in 24 at-bats in 7 games.

The Dodgers traded Robinson to the New York Giants on December 13, 1956. He refused to report to the Giants and the trade was voided and he was returned to the Dodgers.

Awards and MLB Records

  • NL Rookie of the Year
  • Sporting News Rookie of the Year
  • NL MVP
  • Led the NL in stolen bases (2 times)

Career Statistics

Robinson played in over 100 games in each of his 10 seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers. His statistics during that time include:

  • 7 seasons with over 150 hits, with a high of 203 in 1949
  • 6 seasons with over 30 doubles, with a high of 39 in 1950
  • 5 seasons with over 20 stolen bases, with a high of 37 in 1949
  • 6 seasons with a batting average over .300, with a high of .342 in 1949

Career batting statistics for Robinson include:

  • 1,382 games played
  • 1,518 hits
  • 273 doubles
  • 137 home runs
  • 197 stolen bases
  • 734 RBIs
  • 291 strikeouts to 740 walks
  • .311 batting average
  • .409 on-base percentage
  • .883 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Robinson at second base include:

  • 748 games played
  • 2,047 assists
  • 607 double plays
  • 1,877 putouts
  • 68 errors
  • .983 fielding percentage

Postseason statistics for Robinson include:

  • 6 postseasons
  • 38 games played
  • 137 at-bats
  • 32 hits
  • 7 doubles
  • 1 triple
  • 2 home runs
  • 6 stolen bases
  • 12 RBIs
  • 14 strikeouts to 21 walks
  • .234 batting average

Post Playing Career

After retiring as a player, Robinson stayed out of baseball for a few years. In 1965, he was hired by ABC as an analyst for their MLB Game of the Week. He was a part-time TV commentator for the Montreal Expos in 1972.

Robinson died from a heart attack at the age of 53 on October 24, 1972.

Robinson was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962 with 77.5% of the vote.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Jackie Robinson
ESPN - Jackie Robinson
Baseball Reference - Jackie Robinson

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