Jackie Robinson's Speech - October 15, 1972 - his last public speech

Jackie Robinson is by no means the greatest player in baseball history. He holds no cherished records in the manner of a Hank Aaron or a Joe DiMaggio, and his career numbers fall far short of the statistical milestones by which we currently measure “greatness”. But as former Negro League star Buck O’Neill once observed, Robinson may not have been the best player of his era, but he was the right player for the task history set before him. As such, Jackie Robinson is the pivotal figure in baseball’s narrative and perhaps its greatest hero. Only a man with Robinson’s singular mix of talent, tenacity, and temperament could have taken up the lonely task of breaking baseball’s color barrier. No player before or since has had to perform under the weight of such a great burden. On one shoulder, Robinson bore the hopes and future aspirations of a people too long denied their share of the American promise; on the other, he bore the fierce scorn and violent enmity of those who preferred that baseball, and American life in general, remain a segregated affair. That he rose to the challenge and thrived under the pressure was an affirmation of America’s founding principle, the proposition that all men are indeed created equal. His triumph, coming a full seven years before Rosa Parks’ defiant “sit”, can be seen as the first great victory of the modern civil rights movement. Martin Luther King, Jr, who followed Robinson’s exploits as a teenager, hailed him as “a pilgrim that walked in the lonesome byways toward the high road of Freedom… a sit-inner before sit-ins, a freedom rider before freedom rides.” His success paved the way for a new generation of superstars – Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Frank Robinson, to name but a few - who would go on to revolutionize the game and help redefine American culture.

Jackie's Career Highlights:

https://thisdayinbaseball.com/jackie-robinsonjackie-robinson-career-highlights/

On July 31, 1978, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds extends his hitting streak to 44 games, tying Willie Keeler’s National League record set 81 years ago. Rose singles against Hall of Famer Phil Niekro in Cincinnati’s 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.

Classic Broadcasts are old-time broadcasts that have been put together from various sources. Many are found on the Internet Archives in a raw form.

If you wish to take a deeper dive, that includes:

Scorecards, Rosters, Newspaper Clippings. All members can jump over to : www.vintagebaseballreflections.com and join the membership platform

On July 31, 2003 the Montreal Expos retired number 8 as a tribute to Gary Carter, their first player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. During his 12-year tenure with the Expos, Carter was selected to the National League All-Star team 7 times and won 3 Gold Glove Awards. After the Expos moved to Washington, D.C. to become the Washington Nationals following the 2004 season, a banner displaying Carter’s number along with those of other Expos stars Andre Dawson, Tim Raines and Rusty Staub was hung from the rafters at the Bell Centre, home of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens.

• This Day In Baseball - Learn more about the players, teams and seasons

Classic Broadcasts are old-time broadcasts that have been put together from various sources. Many are found on the Internet Archives in a raw form.

If you wish to take a deeper dive, that includes:

Scorecards, Rosters, Newspaper Clippings. All members can jump over to : www.vintagebaseballreflections.com and join the membership platform