Читать реферат по английскому: "Jackie Robinson Essay Research Paper On August" Страница 1

(Назад) (Cкачать работу)

Jackie Robinson Essay, Research Paper

On August 28, l945, Jackie Robinson met a men by the name of Branch Rickey, who wanted to end, once and for all, discrimination (Allen, l987). Jackie Robinson was the first black baseball player to play in the Major Leagues; he had to struggle through the racial

barrier of black and white to play.

“After leaving the Army Robinson joined the Kansas City Monarchs, a team in one of the Negro Leagues, as a shortstop. He earned $400 a month, a large amount in l945 (Allen, l987). However, life in the Negro Leagues was not very easy. Living conditions

were deplorable. Teams traveled by bus over bumpy roads neglected during the war years. Many hotels and restaurants did not serve blacks, so the black players often had to sleep and eat on the bus (Allen, l987). Talented black ballplayers often toiled for years without attaining the recognition and adulation they deserved. ‘In those days a white ballplayer could look forward to some streak of luck or some reward for hard work to carry him into

prominence or even stardom. What had the black player to hope for?’ Robinson wondered. ‘What was his future?’ for most it was bleak. Robinson often thought, ‘If I left baseball,where could I go, what could I do to earn enough money to help my mother and to marry Rachel?’ Yet his future turned out bright – thanks to Branch Rickey (Allen, l987).”

“Persuaded by Rickey to leave the Kansas City Monarchs after playing for them for only one season, Robinson signed a contract to join the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers top minor league club, in the spring of l946 (Allen, l987). He was to receive a salary of $600 a

month and a signing bonus of $3,500. Robinson kept the news of his signing a secret for almost two months – until Rickey and the Dodgers had taken care of other business matters and were ready to reveal the start of what was to be called baseballs great experiment. Their

revelation resulted in either outrage or jubilation all across America (Allen, l987).

“Everyone, it seemed, had an opinion about how integration would affect the game. Yet one simple question remained. Despite all of the talk about Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, he had not yet played a single game for the Dodger organization (Allen,

l987). He still had to earn his way onto the major league roster. Spring training in l946 was to provide the first clue as to whether Robinson would succeed with the ‘experiment.’ He reported in February to pre-season camp in Florida, where strict segregation laws were still enforced, and immediately showed that he would handle the situation by saying, ‘I’m going there to play ball, not to live…I’ll be down there strictly as a ballplayer and will act

accordingly’ (Allen, l987). Still, he had to contend with the other ballplayers, coaches and the managers. In the spring of l946, the Dodger organization divided its training camp into two separate groups. The Dodgers trained in one group while the Royals practiced in another. In early March they met for the first time in an exhibition game (Allen, l987).

Robinson did not play very well in the game or in any other of the spring training games. Bothered by a sore arm as well as some unpleasant experiences – racist regulations in the South did not allow him to play in some of the ballparks – he looked as though he would have a very difficult time in integrated big league baseball (Allen, l987). The Montreal Royals opened the l946 International League season on April l8 against the hometown Jersey City Giants. The ballpark was not far from New York City and packed with nearly

30,000 fans. They had not only come to see the return of baseball after the war but to watch Jackie Robinson make his first minor league appearance (Allen, l987).”

“Robinson went four-for-five for the day as the Royals won, l4-l. He scored four runs, drove in three, and stole two bases, all the while exciting the crowd (Allen, 1987). ‘This would have been a big day for any man,’ The New York Times reported, ‘but under the

special circumstances, it was a tremendous feat.’”

“In his first game Jackie Robinson had shown everyone that he could play baseball (Allen, 1987). Outside Canada, fans were much less kind. At a game in Baltimore, Maryland, they yelled racial slurs at him for nine straight innings. In Indianapolis, Indiana,

he was pulled from a game because of a law prohibiting interracial athletics (Allen, 1987). In Syracuse, New York, an opposing player threw a black cat onto the field and hollered to Robinson that it was his cousin. The game was stopped by the umpire so that he could warn

the Syracuse players about their behavior (Allen, 1987).”

“The worst incident happened during the Little World Series, a seven-game series that pitched the Royals, champions of the international league, against the Louisville Colonels, winners of the American Association title (Allen, 1987). Racial tension had been

building in Louisville, Kentucky, before the series started, since the Colonels set quotas on how many black fans could attend home games. Robinson fell into a deep hitting slump and played poorly in the three games in Louisville (Allen, 1987). He said, ‘I had been booed pretty soundly before, but nothing like this. A torrent of mass hatred burst from the stands with virtually every move I made.’ He managed only one in eleven at-bats as the Royals lost

two of the first three games (Allen, 1987).”

“The Montreal fans heard about the abuse Robinson had suffered from the nearly all-white crowds in Louisville and were enraged. When the series returned to Canada, throngs of fans showed up to support Robinson in the remaining games (Allen, 1987). Each

time a Louisville player

Похожие работы