Happy Jackie Robinson Day!

Today is the day set aside to commemorate the life and legacy of professional baseball superstar Jackie Robinson. The United States had been playing baseball as a general sport since 1846. Before April 15, 1947, baseball had been segregated between whites and brown, or black skinned players of African descent, as well as Hispanic/Spanish/Latino descent since about the year 1867. Then in 1876, there was a gentlemen’s agreement between the owners that the players of color would not be permitted into baseball. Sure, there were great baseball players such as Fleet Walker of Toledo, who was the 1^st African-American player to play in a professional league baseball game in 1884. But because of prejudicial preconceived notions, they weren’t given the proper opportunity to showcase their talent. Because they were facing more, and more discrimination and segregation, the Negro Leagues were founded in 1920 by Rube Foster, and those leagues were in operation off and on up until 1960. That brings me to Branch Rickey. He was the general manager of the then, Brooklyn Dodgers (moved to LA in 1958), who was looking to break the color barrier that had been in place for 80 years. Enter the aforementioned Jackie Robinson, who had been playing for the Kansas City Monarchs, who were 1 of the winningest teams in the Negro Leagues. They were the equivalent of the New York Yankees in our more modern Major League Baseball (MLB) terms. Branch Rickey had kept it a secret as long as he possibly could. He knew there was an untapped reservoir of talent that was being kept down by the rest of society’s ignorance. Back then, even though it seems very foreign to us, it was very radical for the time when Jackie Robinson took his defensive spot at 1^st base. Shortly after Jackie, Larry Doby of the Cleveland Indians became the 1^st player of African descent in the American League, making the Dodgers the 1^st team in the National League to integrate, and baseball as a whole officially within the confines of how we think of baseball, which has been played since 1903. In 2004, the MLB decided to make a day honoring Jackie Robinson on April 15. Since 2009, all the players, coaches, and umpires wear the number 42 to honor Mr. Robinson. And the number 42 consequently has been retired from all of baseball since 1997.

Brad Freeman's All-Time Baseball Legends Team

My all-time baseball legends team:

LF Ted Williams (Boston Red Sox)

CF Willie Mays (New York/San Francisco Giants)

RF Hank Aaron (Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves)

3B Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia Phillies)

SS Cal Ripken Jr. (Baltimore Orioles)

2B Ernie Banks (Chicago Cubs)

1B Lou Gehrig (New York Yankees)

C Johnny Bench (Cincinnati Reds)

P Babe Ruth (Boston Red Sox/New York Yankees) *94 wins before all the homers

DH Pete Rose (Cincinnati Reds)

Try facing that lineup. What do you think baseball oriented friends?