Editing Jackie Robinson (section)

====Breaking the color barrier (1947)====
[[File:Jackie Robinson, NPG 97 219.jpg | thumb | Jackie Robinson in 1947]]
In 1947, the Dodgers called Robinson up to the major leagues six days before the start of the season. With [[Eddie Stanky]] entrenched at second base for the Dodgers, Robinson played his initial major league season as a [[first baseman]].<ref name=schwartz/> Robinson made his debut as a Dodger wearing [[Uniform number (Major League Baseball)|uniform number]] 42 on April 11, 1947, in a preseason [[exhibition game]] against the New York Yankees at [[Ebbets Field]] with 24,237 in attendance.<ref>{{cite web |title=April 11, 1947: Jackie Robinson debuts in a Dodgers uniform at Ebbets Field |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/april-11-1947-jackie-robinson-debuts-for-dodgers-at-ebbets-field/ |website=Society for American Baseball Research |first=Steven |last=Weiner}}</ref> On April 15, Robinson made his major league debut at the relatively advanced age of 28 at Ebbets Field before a crowd of 26,623 spectators, more than 14,000 of whom were black.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Morehouse, Ward |title=Jackie Robinson makes his debut with the Dodgers|url=https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/tsn-archives-jackie-robinson-makes-his-debut-dodgers-april-23-1947-issue/myd4lqgfnt6zvodhxft7nwf2 |magazine=[[The Sporting News]] |date=April 23, 1947 |access-date=April 14, 2023}}</ref>  Although he failed to get a base hit, he reached second on a throwing error and scored the winning run in the Dodgers' 5–3 victory.<ref>{{cite web|title=Boston Braves at Brooklyn Dodgers Box Score: April 15, 1947|website=Baseball-Reference.com|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO194704150.shtml|access-date=April 11, 2019}}</ref> Robinson became the first player since 1884 to openly break the major league baseball color line. Black fans began flocking to see the Dodgers when they came to town, abandoning their Negro league teams.<ref name="Satch2"/>

Robinson's promotion met a generally positive, although mixed, reception among newspapers and white major league players.<ref name=SABRbio/><ref>{{cite news |title=How media covered Jackie Robinson's Debut |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2019/01/31/how-media-covered-jackie-robinsons-debut/38986241/ |work=[[USA Today]] |agency=Associated Press |date=January 31, 2019}}</ref> However, racial tension existed in the Dodger clubhouse.<ref name="history.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jackie-robinson-breaks-color-barrier |title=Jackie Robinson breaks major league color barrier |date=November 24, 2009 |access-date=October 21, 2011 |publisher=[[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]]}}</ref> Some Dodger players insinuated they would sit out rather than play alongside Robinson. The brewing mutiny ended when Dodgers management took a stand for Robinson. Manager [[Leo Durocher]] informed the team, "I do not care if the guy is yellow or black, or if he has stripes like a fuckin' zebra. I'm the manager of this team, and I say he plays. What's more, I say he can make us all rich. And if any of you cannot use the money, I will see that you are all traded."<ref>[[#Kirwin|Kirwin]], p. 198.</ref>

Robinson was also derided by opposing teams.<ref>[[#Giglio|Giglio]], pp. 150–151.</ref> According to a press report, the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] threatened to [[Strike action|strike]] if Robinson played and spread the walkout across the entire National League.<ref name="strike">{{cite magazine|last=Corbett|first=Warren|title=The 'Strike' Against Jackie Robinson: Truth or Myth?|journal=Baseball Research Journal|date=Spring 2017|volume=46|issue=1|pages=88–93|issn=0734-6891|url=https://sabr.org/research/strike-against-jackie-robinson-truth-or-myth|access-date=January 20, 2019}}</ref> Existence of the plot was said to have been leaked by the Cardinals' team physician, Robert Hyland, to a friend, the ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]''{{'}}s [[Rud Rennie]]. The reporter, concerned about protecting Hyland's anonymity and job, in turn leaked it to his ''Tribune'' colleague and editor, [[Stanley Woodward (editor)|Stanley Woodward]], whose own subsequent reporting with other sources protected Hyland.<ref>[[#Kahn|Kahn]], pp. 259–267.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Krell|first1=David|title= "Our Bums": The Brooklyn Dodgers in History, Memory and Popular Culture|date=2015|publisher=McFarland|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4766-1973-6|pages=93–94|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2RHNCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA94}}</ref><ref name="Giglio">[[#Giglio|Giglio]], pp. 152–153.</ref> The Woodward article made national headlines. After it was published, National League President [[Ford Frick]] and [[Baseball Commissioner]] [[Happy Chandler]] let it be known that any striking players would be suspended. "You will find that the friends that you think you have in the press box will not support you, that you will be outcasts," Frick was quoted as saying. "I do not care if half the league strikes. Those who do it will encounter quick retribution. All will be suspended and I don't care if it wrecks the National League for five years. This is the United States of America and one citizen has as much right to play as another."<ref name="Giglio"/><ref>[[#Kirwin|Kirwin]], p. 199.</ref><ref>[[#Eig|Eig]], p. 95.</ref><ref>[[#Bryant|Bryant]], p. 70.</ref> Woodward's article received the [[E. P. Dutton]] Award in 1947 for Best Sports Reporting.<ref name="Giglio"/> The Cardinals players denied that they were planning to strike, and Woodward later told author [[Roger Kahn]] that Frick was his true source; writer Warren Corbett said that Frick's speech "never happened".<ref name="strike"/> Regardless, the report led to Robinson receiving increased support from the [[Sports journalism|sports media]]. Even ''[[Sporting News|The Sporting News]]'', a publication that had backed the color line, came out against the idea of a strike.<ref name="strike"/>

Robinson nonetheless became the target of rough physical play by opponents (particularly the Cardinals). At one time, he received a seven-inch gash in his leg from [[Enos Slaughter]].<ref name="pbs">{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_jackie.html |title=Jackie Robinson integrates Baseball |access-date=September 14, 2009 |last=Wormser |first=Richard |publisher=Public Broadcasting Service |year=2002}}</ref> On April 22, 1947, during a game between the Dodgers and the [[Philadelphia Phillies]], Phillies players and manager [[Ben Chapman (baseball)|Ben Chapman]] called Robinson a "[[nigger]]" from their [[Dugout (baseball)|dugout]] and yelled that he should "go back to the cotton fields".<ref>[[#Williams and Sielski|Williams and Sielski]], p. 9.</ref> Rickey later recalled that Chapman "did more than anybody to unite the Dodgers. When he poured out that string of unconscionable abuse, he solidified and united thirty men."<ref>{{cite video |people=[[Ken Burns|Burns, Ken]] (writer and director) |date=1994 |title=[[Baseball (TV series)|Baseball]], Part 6 |medium=Television production |publisher=[[Public Broadcasting Service]]}}</ref>

However, Robinson received significant encouragement from several major league players. Robinson named [[Lee Handley|Lee "Jeep" Handley]], who played for the Phillies at the time, as the first opposing player to wish him well.<ref name=Astor>{{cite book|last1=Astor|first1=Gerald|title=The Baseball Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Book|date=1988|publisher=Prentice Hall Press|pages=221–222|isbn=978-0-13-056573-0}}</ref> Dodgers teammate [[Pee Wee Reese]] once came to Robinson's defense with the famous line, "You can hate a man for many reasons. Color is not one of them."<ref name="Newman">{{cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070412&content_id=1895445&vkey=perspectives&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb |title=1947: A time for change |access-date=May 5, 2019 |last=Newman |first=Mark |date=April 13, 2007 |website=[[Major League Baseball|MLB.com]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090407050137/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070412&content_id=1895445&vkey=perspectives&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb |archive-date=April 7, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1947 or 1948, Reese is said to have put his arm around Robinson in response to fans who shouted racial slurs at Robinson before a game in Boston or Cincinnati.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2007/04/24/debunkers-strike-out/ |title=Debunkers Strike Out |access-date=December 2, 2020 |last=Barra |first=Allen |date=April 24, 2007 |newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/the-embrace/ |title=The Embrace |access-date=December 2, 2020 |last=Posnanski |first=Joe |date=April 27, 2016 |work=[[NBC Sports]]}}</ref> A [[Reese and Robinson Monument|statue]] by sculptor [[William Behrends]], unveiled at [[KeySpan Park]] on November 1, 2005, depicts Reese with his arm around Robinson.<ref>{{cite news |title=From Clay to Bronze to the Hall |last=Sandomir |first=Richard |date=June 1, 2008 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/sports/baseball/01oneil.html |access-date=July 12, 2009}}</ref> [[Jewish]] baseball star [[Hank Greenberg]], who had to deal with ethnic epithets during his career, also encouraged Robinson. Following an incident where Greenberg collided with Robinson at first base, he "whispered a few words into Robinson's ear", which Robinson later characterized as "words of encouragement".<ref name="Greenberg"/> Greenberg had advised him to overcome his critics by defeating them in games.<ref name="Greenberg">{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/2000/01/12/2000-01-12__greenberg__a_home_run.html |title='Greenberg' A Home Run |access-date=October 12, 2008 |last=Mathews |first=Jack |date=January 12, 2000 |newspaper=[[New York Daily News]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706072855/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/2000/01/12/2000-01-12__greenberg__a_home_run.html |archive-date=July 6, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Robinson also talked frequently with [[Larry Doby]], who endured his own hardships since becoming the first black player in the [[American League]] with the [[Cleveland Indians]], as the two spoke to each other via telephone throughout the season.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Livingston |first1=Otis |title=Larry Doby: Second to none |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/larry-doby-second-to-none-streams-tonight-on-cbs-news-new-york/ |publisher=[[CBS News]] |date=October 6, 2022}}</ref>

Robinson finished the season having played in 151 games for the [[Dodgers]], with a batting average of .297, an [[on-base percentage]] of .383, and a .427 [[slugging percentage]]. He had 175 hits (scoring 125 runs) including 31 [[Double (baseball)|doubles]], 5 [[Triple (baseball)|triples]], and 12 home runs, driving in 48 runs for the year. Robinson led the league in [[Sacrifice bunt|sacrifice hits]], with 28, and in stolen bases, with 29.<ref>[[#Eig|Eig]], p. 224.</ref> His cumulative performance earned him the inaugural [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award]] (separate National and American League Rookie of the Year honors were not awarded until 1949).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mlb.com/mlb/awards/mlb_awards_content.jsp?content=roy_history |title=Rookies of the Year |website=[[Major League Baseball|MLB.com]] |access-date=June 20, 2022|archive-date=November 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124013912/http://www.mlb.com/mlb/awards/mlb_awards_content.jsp?content=roy_history |url-status=dead }}</ref>

That year, the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] won the National League pennant and went on to face the [[1947 New York Yankees|Yankees]] in the [[1947 World Series]]. Robinson became the first black player to play in the World Series. He appeared in all seven games, with the Dodgers ultimately losing in Game 7.<ref>[[#Schoor|Schoor]], pp. 208–213.</ref>