True. I doubt that many people, even ardent baseball fans, can tell you very much about Jackie Robinson's accomplishments on the field. The only thing they would remember about him was that he was the first black ballplayer to play in the big leagues. Is that fact really so important that it blots out everything else about the man?
He was rookie of the year, NL MVP, and a 6-time All Star, and he wasn’t in MLB until he was 28. You don’t think he was good?
“The only thing they would remember about him was that he was the first black ballplayer to play in the big leagues.”
Funny thing is, although Jackie Robinson is widely recognized as the first African-American to play in the Major Leagues, Mose Fleetwood “Fleet” Walker is acknowledged by historians at the National Baseball Hall of Fame to actually be the first, six decades before Robinson suited up for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.
And Walker was highly educated with a degree from the University of Michigan Law School. But Robinson’s entry into MLB was accomplished for reasons other than play. And others to suit up that year were Larry Doby, Cleveland Indians (sorry, it’s history), Hank Thompson and Willard Brown, St. Louis Browns, and Dan Bankhead, also of the Dodgers, the first black pitcher in MLB. Three are in the hall of fame. So Jackie Robinson was not the first, just one of a few. But he was willing to play Branch Rickey’s game of race.
And you’re right, he will be remembered for that, mostly. The games people play.
wy69