the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Friday marked 75 years since Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play Major League Baseball and broke barriers beyond the field. Seventy-five years ago today, in Brooklyn, New York.
Robinson debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, a day that changed baseball and the course of history. “Jackie showed the world that equality should be a fundamental right for all and that real change in our society was possible,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said.
During his 10-year MLB career, Robinson won the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949—the first black player so honored. Robinson played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers’ 1955 World Series championship. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
