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'''Jack Roosevelt Robinson''' (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972), became the first African American Major League Baseball player of the modern era in 1947. Robinson's achievement has been recognized by his uniform number, 42, being retired by all Major League Baseball Teams; the number will never again be given to a player, although four players (Mariano Rivera, Mo Vaughn, Butch Huskey, and Jose Lima) played with that number at the time of its retirement. While Vaughn and Huskey have retired, Lima and Rivera are still active though only Rivera still wears the number.
He was the subject of a 1950 film biography, ''
The Jackie Robinson Story'', in which he played himself.
Before the major leagues
Born in Cairo, Georgia, he moved with his mother, Mallie Robinson, and siblings Willie Mae, Mack, Frank and Edgar to Pasadena, California in 1920, after his father deserted the family. He attended John Muir Junior College and Pasadena City College where he was an enthusiastic athlete. At the University of California, Los Angeles, he was a star player of football, basketball, track and baseball; the first athlete in UCLA history to letter in four different sports.
Robinson's honors at UCLA were impressive: for two years, he was the highest scorer in basketball competition in the Pacific Coast Conference, national champion long jumper, All-American football halfback and varsity baseball shortstop. He left college in 1941 because of financial problems, not many credits from a bachelor's degree.
Robinson also met his future wife, Rachel Robinson, at UCLA. His brother Matthew "Mack" Robinson (1912-2000) competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics, finishing second in the 200-meter sprint behind Jesse Owens. In 1941, Jackie played professional football for a team in Honolulu, Hawaii.
After leaving UCLA his senior year, Robinson enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II. He enlisted with a segregated Battalion, the U.S. 761st Tank Battalion. While initially refused admission to Officer Candidate School, he fought for it and eventually was accepted, graduating as a first lieutenant. While training in the Army at Fort Hood, Texas, Robinson refused to go to the back of a public bus. He was court-martialed for insubordination and, therefore, never made it to Europe with his unit. He later received an honorable discharge in 1944, after being acquitted of all charges at the court-martial.
Jackie played baseball in 1944 for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro American League, where he was noticed by Clyde Sukeforth, a scout working for Branch Rickey.
The Dodgers
Branch Rickey was the club president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and had
