Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was born January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. Jackie's grandfather was a slave and his father a sharecropper. His mom and dad got a divorce when Jackie was just a baby. He, his mother and four siblings moved after his

parents got a divorce. His mother took all the children and moved to Pasadena, California. Not long after the family moved to Pasadena, Jackie's mother enrolled him into Pasadena Junior College, and later he went on to University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Jackie was a standout in school sports at UCLA, he played football, baseball, basketball, and track. Jackie later in 1941 left college in the middle of his junior year to join the Army. Four years after entering the Army Jackie was discharged because of a confrontation with another officer when he would not give up his seat on a military bus. He was discharged as a first Lieutenant.

After leaving the Army Jackie wanted to play baseball, his favorite sport. He tried out for many teams and was drafted by the Kansas City Monarchs Negro League Team. The Negro League schedule was very tuff. The team was always on the road playing games. Jackie did not like the life style of being on the Monarchs. He and his teammates would have to withstand the racial tensions everywhere they went. While Jackie was playing in the Negro Leagues, Branch Rickey, the Los Angeles Dodgers manager was secretly sending out scouts to look at Jackie and other players in the Negro leagues that stood out above the rest of their baseball talent. Rickey made the excuse to the scouts that he wanted to put together an all black baseball team called the "Brown Dodgers". He was really looking for the right black player that would break the color barrier in professional baseball. Rickey looked at all his options and he chose Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Monarchs. He chose Jackie because of his skills in baseball and his courage.

After the elections, time was wearing down Robinson and he went back home to live with his family. At his old age Robinson had endured a lot of pain. Many of the close friends he had and family members had died including, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X who were all assassinated. Also he lost his mother Mallie, Branch Rickey, and his son Jackie Junior, who died in a car accident at the age of 24. Near the end his life, Robinson was invited to throw the first pitch of the 1972 World Series. He died of a heart attack ten days later at the age of 53. Robinson was elected to the baseball hall of fame in 1962, becoming the first black to receive the honor. Jackie Robinson was definitely one of the most important athletes of the 20th century, and in 1997, majo

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Approximate Word count = 1663
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)