![]() Jackie Robinson while with the Montreal Royals. I’ll need it.”įriday, we will celebrate the anniversary of when that all became official, the day Jackie Robinson officially became one of the most revered athletes of all time - a journey that would begin with a 5-3 Dodgers victory over the Boston Braves, a game in which Robinson walked and scored a run. It’s what I’ve been waiting for,” and answer his Royals teammates who wished him well: “Thanks. Most of the people who left the ballpark that day had no idea, and wouldn’t until the next morning when they’d snap open the Brooklyn Eagle and learn of the news, when they saw Robinson proclaim, “I’m thrilled. Jackie Robinson Getty ImagesĪnd then, suddenly, typed words on white paper: But he sure looked shaky that day at Ebbets Field, in front of 14,282 of Brooklyn’s faithful who’d shown up, primarily, to see him. ![]() The so-called “gentleman’s agreement” had been on the clock ever since Rickey had signed Robinson a year earlier, and it was clear Robinson, at 28, was going to be the one to take a hammer to 62 shameful years of exclusion. It was part of an 0-for-3 day for him, and the sportswriters had already begun to speculate that failing such a test might force Robinson to break camp with Montreal rather than Brooklyn, postponing the moment when baseball would shatter a color barrier that had existed since 1885, the year after Moses Fleetwood Walker caught for the Toledo Blue Stockings of the old American Association. Not 10 seconds before Mann appeared in the press box, Robinson had popped into an inning-ending double play while attempting to bunt. There was some irony attached to the announcement. “The Brooklyn Dodgers today purchased the contract of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson from the Montreal Royals.” He distributed the press release to reporters, then repeated the words that were on it. Arthur Mann, an assistant to Dodgers GM Branch Rickey, appeared in the Ebbets Field press box. So it was on the afternoon of April 10, 1947, in the fifth inning of an exhibition game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and their Triple-A farm club, the Montreal Royals. Sometimes it comes in the form of a public-relations man ripping a piece of paper out of his typewriter, proofreading it on the fly, handing it to another man in a suit, then summoning a small gaggle of sportswriters so he can read a prepared statement. History rarely arrives with a drumroll, or with a proper pronouncement. Jim Boeheim's Big East impact felt all the way to his Syracuse end ![]() Dayton a must-see event for New York fans It's 50th anniversary of Yankees' most insane swap everįordham vs. Fairleigh Dickinson embracing First Four challenge amid unusual March Madness bid ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |