Jackie+Robinson6

=**Jackie Robinson**=

Branch Rickey drafted this young man as the first African American to play Major League Baseball (MLB). Jackie Robinson, with his .311 batting average and being welcomed into the hall of fame, was a persevering person. Jackie Robinson exemplified perseverance by overcoming his rough childhood, going after his dreams, and issues with racism during his first baseball season with the Dodgers.

As a child, Jackie himself had it rough. At the age of six months old, his dad left him and his family. Considering his father did so, they had to leave the farm on which they were living and move. His mom had issues as it was keeping up with the house payment. Since this was so, Jackie often ate day old bread along with milk. As a boy, he was very respectful and did what he was told. He also had huge dreams and focused on sports VERY hard. He was caught with a group of people who could get him into trouble, but others like the local mechanic and pastor, knew what was best for him and talked him out of it. Jackie continued to focus very hard on school and sports, allowing him to strive high and succeed.

In the meanwhile, as Jackie grew older, he grew more dreams. This man dreamed BIG He finally made these dreams come true. Jackie became UCLA's first four letter man. He got his four letters in baseball, basketball, football, and track. At this age, he was very athletic. He very much loved those four sports, but had bigger dreams for baseball. Jackie has always wanted to integrate baseball, and didn't care about what other's thought. He began to play for the Kansas City Monarchs, an all African American team. Since the entire team was all African Americans, they often had to sleep on the bus because some hotels didn't allow them due to their race to stay there. Branch Rickey was the coach of the Dodgers at the time. Branch heard of the young man and decided to draft him. Jackie accepted, becoming the very first African American to play MLB.

Jackie enjoyed playing for the Dodgers more than anything, but faced MANY issues. Considering he was the very first African American to play MLB, everybody taunted him. His own teammates, other team members, other coaches, and the crowd taunted him. Sometimes while Jackie was up to bat, the pitchers would aim for his head. As Jackie would run the bases, players would try to cleat him. To me, this was harsh and I would have quit. This isn't the thought Jackie had. Jackie ignored every name he was called, and every bad action the other players made. Teammates somewhat accepted Jackie, but didn't so much like the thought of Jackie being African American and on their team. This very will did hate this fact of everyone taunting him, but he ignored it, killed it with kindness, and went on. Jackie is a very strong man to survive all of this. In the end, by the time Jackie retired, he had a .311 batting average, became MVP (most valuable player) and part of the Hall of Fame. He hit 12 homeruns his first year, helped the Dodgers win six league championships, and one world series. In the meantime of playing for the Dodgers, integration in baseball started to happen slowly. This happened thanks to Jackie not giving up...and constantly campaigning. With him campaigning, the very first African American third base coach was hired, along with the first African American manager.

As a child, Jackie always wanted to integrate baseball. With his pride, he could do so, he never gave up. He persevered even with having dreams that people teased him about, ignoring rudeness in childhood, and blocked the crowd, retiring with a .311 batting average. He was very brave to campaing like he did, and made this all come true.

References:

Humphrey, S. (2005). //Dare to dream! 25 extraordinary lives//. (pp. 53-56). New York: Prometheus Books. Aaron, H. (June, 14 1999). Jackie robinson: The trailblazer. Retrieved from [] //Jackie robinson. biography//. (1996). Retrieved from []

Jackie robinson. In //Encyclopedia Britannica// EB (Encyclopedia Britannica). Retrieved from []

Archive, H. (Photographer). (1945). Retrieved from []==