Jackie Robinson Facts – 31 Interesting Facts About Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson Interesting Facts
He was politically very independent but had very conservative views on the Vietnam War.
Despite his admiration for John F. Kennedy and his stance on civil rights he supported Richard Nixon in the 1960 Presidential election.
He won the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1949 after his first appearance in the MLB All Star Game. He later took his team to the World series only to lose to the New York Yankees.
A biopic about his life was released in 1950 in the form of The Jackie Robinson Story where he played his own role himself. Academy Award-nominated female actor Ruby Dee played Robinson’s wife Rachel “Rae” Islum Robinson.
He proceeded to a speaking tour of the South during the off season and answered pre set questions pertaining to his life. He made lot of money in these tours which amounted much more than the amount he earned on his contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
He notched a batting average of 297, 175 hits, 12 home runs, and 48 runs batted in and also won the Rookie of the Year in 1947
He was a close friend of Larry Doby of the Cleveland Indians who was the first African American baseball player in the American League. Their friendship became a role model for all and helped to foster better inter race relationship. Booth the friends telephoned each other spending long hours talking about racism.
He was often subjected to racial slurs by fans but found support in the form of Dodgers teammate Pee Wee Reese who defended him from violent and nasty racial slurs.
He played six World Series but won only one in 1955 against the New York Yankees in a seven series game. He did not play in 49 games and also missed Game 7 and was replaced by Don Hoak. He hung his boots at the age of 37 from Major League Baseball and the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956 due to the visible effects of diabetes.
He took a position at American coffee company Chock Full O’ Nuts and agreed to quit baseball. He served as the vice president of personnel for Chock Full O’ Nuts coffee from 1957 to 1964, and became the first African-American vice president of a major American corporation.
