Today, Monday, April 15th, is Jackie Robinson Day. It’s the day that MLB celebrates the legendary player who broke baseball’s color barrier on April 15th, 1947 and opened the door for Black players to follow through.
77 years later, Black players make up 6% of Major League Baseball rosters. That’s the lowest number since 1955, when Robinson was in his ninth year with the Dodgers in 1955. That equates to 57 players, two less than 2023 according to MLB (59, 6.1%, respectively).
While MLB, MLBPA, the Players Alliance, Black players and other parties are working hard to elevate participation among Black athletes, especially at the youth level, today is a day about more than just numbers because of the man who’s being honored in stadiums across the country.
Jackie Robinson was more than just one of the most important people in all of baseball history.
He is more than just the Baseball Hall of Famer (1962), 6x All-Star, the 1947 Rookie of the Year, and the 1949 NL MVP, a year in which he also won the Batting Title with a .349 BA. He is more than just his career average of .311 and the player who helped the Dodgers win six pennants and one World Series title in 1955.
Robinson represented progress but he also fought for it, especially off the field.
After he retired from baseball in 1956, he channeled his fight for equal rights off the field.
As an executive with the Chock Full O’ Nuts company, Robinson fought for corporate integration.
He was an advocate for Black Power through capitalism and supported small businesses. In 1964, he co-founded the Freedom National Bank of Harlem to help Black economic growth in the community.
He also joined the fight for affordable housing and in 1970 founded the Jackie Robinson Construction Company, which sought to provide housing for low-income people.
Robinson was also active politically, backing the Teamsters after they supported Black communities and the fight for equal rights and taking part in the Civil Rights Movement.
And while he fought off the field for Black advancement, he never forgot about the struggle on the diamond.
In 1969, he refused an offer to play in the Old Timers game because of baseball’s refusal to hire Black managers.
On October 15th, 1972, roughly two weeks before he passed away on October 24th, Jackie appeared at Game 2 of the World Series in honor of the 25th anniversary of his breaking of baseball’s color barrier.
In his speech, he thanked people like Branch Rickey and Pee Wee Reese and shared his hopes for change three years after passing on the Old Times game.
“I going to be tremendously more pleased and more proud when I look at that third base coaching line one day and see a Black face managing in baseball,” said Robinson.
Two years later, in October of 1974, the then-Cleveland Indians hired Frank Robinson as their manager, making him the first Black manager in MLB history. On April 8th, 1975, Robinson made his managerial debut with the Indians as a player/manager and punctuated the history-making event with a home run.
That change was facilitated through the efforts of Jackie Robinson.
He stood up to racism, like refusing to move to the back of the bus while serving in the Army and being stationed at Fort Hood.
And even though he’s mostly remembered for his contributions in baseball, Robison bravely fought for advancement economically, politically, socially and athletically.
Baseball has been trending backward regarding Black participation for years, and the current climate across the country is one of division when authoritarianism is spreading and Black history, progress and the community as a whole is under attack at almost every angle.
So instead of just remembering Robinson for what he did on the diamond, remember him for what he accomplished off of it and take action so that you can change the current direction of the world.
Both on the diamond and, more importantly, off of it.
