#42

I try to mark this day every year. As a lifelong Braves fan, I am contractually obligated to hate everything L.A. Dodger related (Sorry Mr. Jones). As a baseball fan though, I still have a soft spot for the Brooklyn version as they tried to topple the hated Yanks for all those years. I won’t wear an L.A. Dodger item, but I will wear my Dodger Blue “B” cap today along with my 1946 replica #9 Montreal Royals away jersey (the Dodger's AAA affiliate where Robinson played in '46). You want to talk about somebody that changed America? Let’s talk Jackie Robinson.



From ESPN online.

42 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT JACKIE ROBINSON
By Mark Kelly, ESPN Research
1 MVP award and Rookie of the Year award won
2 Number of World Series HRs
3 Number of ABs in his first game
4 Number of sports lettered in at UCLA
5 The youngest of 5 children
6 Number of World Series appearances
7 Number of seasons he scored 99 or more runs
Inning that he stole home in Game 1 of 1955 WS
8 More runs than strikeouts in World Series career
9 Number of times he was hit by a pitch in rookie season
10 Number of seasons in MLB
11 Lifetime BA of .311
12 Number of HR in his rookie season
13 Traded by Brooklyn Dodgers to N.Y. Giants on Dec. 13, 1956. Robinson retired rather than play for the Giants
14 Most times he was hit by pitch in a season (1952)
15 Made his debut on April 15, 1947
16 Number of home runs in his MVP season
17 Dodgers play Montreal Royals on March 17, 1946, with Robinson in the lineup marking the first appearance of an integrated team in organized baseball this century
Named first-ever Rookie of the Year on Sept. 17, 1947, 11 days before the last game of the regular season
18 Number of All-Star ABs
19 Career high for HRs set in 1951 and 1952
Number of times he stole home in his MLB career
20 Family moved to Pasadena in 1920
21 Number of World Series walks
22 Number of World Series runs
23 Branch Rickey announces signing of Robinson on Oct. 23, 1945
Selected for MLB HOF on January 23, 1962
Inducted into MLB HOF on July 23, 1962
24 Number of more points he had than runner-up Larry Jansen in ROY voting
25 Number of years after his major league debut that he threw out the ceremonial first pitch of Game 2 of the 1972 World Series
26 Years it had been since a NL player stole their way around the bases, which he did in 1954
27 Number of extra-base hits in his final MLB season
28 Age he was when he made his MLB debut
29 Stolen bases in rookie year
30 Played in first World Series game on Sept. 30, 1947
31 Number of doubles in his rookie season
32 Number of postseason hits
33 Price of postage stamp in 1999 when U.S. Postal Service issued a Jackie Robinson stamp as part of their "Celebrate the Century" program
34 Average number of strikeouts per 162-game season
35 Age when he stole his way around the bases in 1954
Number of Negro League players in HOF
36 Number of strikeouts in his rookie season
37 Age during final season
38 Number of postseason games
39 Entered UCLA in 1939
40 Career-high for strikeouts set in 1952
41 Played pro football for Honolulu Bears in 1941
42 His number retired by MLB