Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia, in 1919 to a family of sharecroppers. His mother, Mallie Robinson, raised Jackie and her four other children, because their father left them. They were the only black family on the block, and the prejudice they encountered was unbelievable. From this humble beginning, Jackie would grow up to be the first person to successfully break the color barrier in Major League Baseball. He married Rachel Issum on Feb. 10, 1946. He had 3 children: Jackie Jr. (Died in 1971), Sharon and David. Jackie Robinson died on Oct. 24, 1972, in Stamford, Connecticut. The courage Jackie Robinson had was unbelievable. Throughout his career people threatened to kill him and his family unless he quit. Despite all this he continued to play and play well in major league baseball. Jackie Robinson was not the first player to play in the major league, that was Larry Doby, but Robinson was the first to do it successfully.

Jackie Robinson played for 10 years (not including years spent in the minors and black league). Six of those years he led the Brooklyn Dodgers into the World Series. He signed with the Dodgers in 1945, played in their Minor Leagues in 1946, and in the Majors from 1947 to 1956. In 1947, he was named the NL Rookie of the Year, and in 1949, he was named the MVP. Jackie Robinson was the first black player to be inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame (1962).

Jackie Robinson attended the University of California at Los Angeles(UCLA). While attending, he excelled in the four sports he played. He also became UCLA's first four-letter man. The four sports that he played were baseball, basketball, football and track.

Here are Jackie Robinson's Career Numbers: AVG .311 G 1382 AB 4877 R 947 H 1518 2B 273 3B 54 HR 137 RBI 734 BB 740 SO 291

Matt Hollis from Mt.Kisco, NY, writes: