This Day in Sports History: Jackie Robinson Becomes MLB's First African-American Player

Every year on April 15, MLB celebrates Jackie Robinson, commemorating the day he first suited up for the Brooklyn Dodgers and became the first African-American player in Major League Baseball.

Robinson was 28 when he broke the sport's longtime color barrier. 

As Sports Illustrated's William Nack wrote for the 50th anniversary of Robinson's debut campaign: 

In the midst of all this bristling animus, there was a circus-like quality to Dodgers games, with Robinson on display like a freak; with large crowds, including many blacks, lustily cheering even his dinkiest pop-ups; and with the daily papers singling him out as the 'black meteor,' the 'sepia speedster,'the 'stellar Negro,' the 'muscular Negro,' the 'lithe Negro' and "dusky Robbie." 

'More eyes were on Jackie than on any rookie who ever played,' recalls Rex Barney, a Brooklyn reliever that year. It was a wonder, as he endured the mounting pressure of his first weeks in the bigs, that Robinson could perform at all.

Born in Georgia, Robinson excelled at several sports and attended UCLA, where he was the first athlete to letter in four varsity sports: baseball, basketball, football and track. After serving in the army, Robinson spent the 1946 season with the Montreal Royals, a minor league affiliate of the Dodgers. 

In 1949, following his third full season with the Dodgers, Robinson was named award the National League’s MVP. Throughout his MLB career, he made six All-Star teams and and helped the Dodgers win the 1955 World Series. 

Sports Illustrated has chronicled the life and legacy of Robinson from a variety of standpoints in the more than seven decades since his debut. Here's a look at some of Sports Illustrated's best stories on the baseball legend and trail blazer.