MLB Celebrates Jackie Robinson Day 75 Years After UCLA Icon Broke Color Barrier
April 15 has come around once again, which means the life and legacy of Bruin legend Jackie Robinson will be honored all throughout the country Friday.
Jackie Robinson Day – first introduced on April 15, 2004 – celebrates Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947. Before starting his professional baseball career, the legendary athlete competed at UCLA, taking part in baseball, basketball, football and track, becoming a regular member of all four sports.
Robinson won one NCAA championship during his time in Westwood, coming out victorious in 1940’s individual long jump competition. On the gridiron, Robinson was one of four African American athletes on UCLA’s roster and was a dynamic punt returner for the Bruins.
As a guard on the men's basketball team, he averaged 12.4 points per game in 1940 and 11.1 points per game in 1941, according to the NCAA. Despite only playing professionally as a baseball player, Robinson struggled the most on the diamond at the collegiate level with a .097 batting average in 1940, but he did manage to notch a signature steal home in his UCLA debut.
Robinson followed up his amateur career by joining the military. He served from 1942 until 1944, when he was honorably discharged. A year later, he resumed his baseball career, joining the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues.
His performances for the Monarchs transformed into an MLB opportunity, taking part in multiple tryouts before Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey selected Robinson as a player of interest.
Two years after being signed by the Dodgers in 1945, Robinson broke the color barrier in MLB and won Rookie of the Year, with the years following allowing many other black athletes to take their own journeys into other American professional sports leagues.
Robinson played nine seasons in MLB and became a national icon while competing for one of the largest recognized teams in the country. In 1949, Robinson won the National League MVP award, and in 1955, the Dodgers won the World Series – the first and only time the storied athlete won a pro title.
After his retirement in 1956, Robinson stayed very involved in the baseball landscape. In 1962, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. With that hall of fame title attached to his name, Robinson became an analyst on baseball broadcasts.
The Los Angeles Dodgers retired Robinson’s No. 42 in 1972, just four months before his death at the age of 53 years old. 25 years later, MLB retired his number league-wide, making sure that no one else would ever don Robinson’s number ever again with the lone exception of Jackie Robinson Day when every player dons No. 42.
Robinson’s legacy still lives on in Westwood as well. UCLA baseball’s stadium, Jackie Robinson Stadium, is named after the icon. In 2014, former Athletic Director Dan Guererro announced the school would be retiring No. 42 across all sports at UCLA. The No. 42 statue outside the John Wooden Center in the middle of campus was unveiled not long after in 2016.
Friday night at 7 p.m., UCLA baseball will be playing in primetime on ESPN2 for a Pac-12 matchup against Stanford. The conference showdown will double as a Jackie Robinson Day celebration to honor the Bruins' great.
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