Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia. He was raised with four other siblings in Pasadena, California by his mother and uncle. His Father left the family when Jackie was a baby. Jackie had to help his mother out by delivering newspapers and selling food during game at the Rose Bowl, as she did many other jobs to earn a living. Jackie as his fans know him as. Jack Roosevelt Robinson was the first black person to receive a contract to play professional baseball. The first break …show more content…
If you ever have been to a Major League Baseball park you may have noticed that a large 42 was somewhere in the stadium. On a banner that waves in the wind high above one ballpark that number appears. In other ballparks it 's hanging on the outfield fence, score board, or on their "wall of fame." Some baseball teams will retire numbers because of outstanding players when their career ends. When the number is retired there is no other player in that organization that will wear that number. The number 42 is so special that every team has retired it. There is no one else in Major League history that will wear the number 42 that Jackie on a daily basis. Jackie Robinson was great ball player, but that is not why his number was retired. Jackie changed baseball forever for the better, and so did America. Jackie wasn 't just a great in baseball. By the time he was in UCLA he excelled in baseball, basketball, football, and track and field. After college and his serving in the Army he was signed to the Monarchs, a Negro League team, the only league that would accept black players. In the United States there were some places that had laws that segregated people based on skin color. There were separate schools, hospitals, bathrooms, and even water fountains set up for black and whites. Because of this Jackie couldn 't sometimes eat or stay at the same hotel as his teammates. Yet he played on and gave a face to the …show more content…
Jackie has a very interesting life, he hasn 't just done baseball his life after baseball was full of things not normally done by pro baseball players, Jackie has one of the greatest legacies people know of. "I wouldn 't be playing if it wasn 't for Jackie Robinson," New York Yankees AliStar Derek Jeter told reporters in 2010. "He stands for a lot more than just baseball (Stewart,