The world knows Jackie Robinson for being a pioneer in the sport of baseball. Without a doubt, he was that, but to limit his accomplishments to merely sports is almost criminal. Robinson was remarkable groundbreaker who accomplished so much more that is rarely celebrated. So, we are giving him and his equally outstanding wife Rachel Robinson their well-deserved flowers. Here’s why:
SPORTS
Jack Roosevelt Robinson, born January 31, 1919, was the first University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) student to letter in four different sports in the same school year. To date, Robinson is still the only athlete in UCLA history to letter in four sports – baseball, football, basketball and track. In fact, baseball was considered Robinson’s “worst” sport at UCLA. (Let that sink in, folks.)
But there’s more: He was recipient of the first Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award in 1947. He was the first player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. Jackie also broke broadcasting barriers as the first Black television baseball analyst. Jackie Robinson’s number 42 is universally retired across Major League Baseball
Author: Bridgette Bartlett Royall
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