Jackie Robinson, Hero

As my Facebook family knows, I was at the New York Mets' home opener - and new stadium opener - on Monday night. Citi Field (as it is now known until or unless people become more upset about a bailout-receiving company ponying up twenty mil per year to have their name up front) has all of the great features of the new major and minor league stadiums, and in adding the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, the stadium not only looks like Ebbetts Field, but memorializes the man that helped bring immeasurable change to our nation, not just the Dodgers or the major leagues.

With that said, and in light of Major League Baseball's industry-wide tribute to Robinson last Wednesday, I thought it appropriate to blog an excerpt from my first book, Sportin' Life: Essays On Sport And Life. Written in 2001, this piece is entitled Jackie Robinson, Hero.

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Despite the fact that Rodney King, James Byrd, Amadou Diallo, and Florida 2000 periodically remind us that racism is still alive and well, I believe that someday an African-American or a woman - perhaps she'll be one in the same - will be elected president of the United States.

Of course, J.A. Rogers would certainly say that if you've read his book, "The Five Negro Presidents," you'd know that an African-American has already been elected...but going back to the future as this new president gives her inaugural address, she'll thank the electorate; the forefathers; her party; her family, and her campaign manager. However, she'll probably not thank one individual who played a large part in her getting to that podium.

This man went before his party and the world with a speech that left hardly a dry eye in sight, and left many people wondering if he shouldn't be the party's standard bearer after all. No, Jesse will probably not get his due, though it was he who erased the perception in the minds of many people that an African-American could not and/or should not seek the nation's highest office, making it possible for someone else to follow victoriously at a later date.

In fact, that's often the way of the world; those directly or indirectly responsible often get slighted in terms of receiving the recognition they deserve. Hardly anyone fits this description better than Jackie Robinson.

Jackie Robinson played a major role, on a number of levels, in changing the way baseball is played in the major leagues. From a strategic standpoint, Jackie brought the Negro Leagues' game - emphasizing speed - to the major leagues where at that time, largely due to the influence of Babe Ruth, power hitting was the main offensive element. I still remember my mother - a non-fan whose retirement from interest in baseball coincided with Robinson's retirement - telling me about the joy of seeing Jackie Robinson "dance on the basepaths," stealing bases and distracting pitchers in a manner making him the stylistic godfather of daring baserunners like Rickey Henderson, Tim Raines, Kenny Lofton, and Marquis Grissom.

When one sees stars like Ken Griffey, Jr.. Barry Bonds, Tony Gwynn, Frank Thomas, and Mo Vaughn, to name a few, it's amazing to realize that so many in the America of just over fifty years ago wanted Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey's "Great Experiment" to fail. Only an extraordinary man would have been able to succeed in the manner that he did. Unfortunately, many young fans of the aforementioned players do not know of the exploits of Jackie Robinson, perhaps in part because to dwell on the totality of what he did - and not just praise his Hall of Fame playing career - is to dwell on the unfortunate and shameful circumstances in this country that surrounded his career.

That goes somewhat against the grain of popular thought, which implies that there's no further need to discuss the apartheid-like treatment visited upon African-Americans because those times were in the distant past, and it's now time to "move on." Of course, such thought fails to address the fact that the effect of that which happened in the past continues to greatly influence society today. Hopefully we will begin to recognize that as a nation, and not continue to sweep what occurred under the rug of history.

On the psychological level, Jackie Robinson was in large part responsible - in that era of blatant and rampant discrimination and segregation - for changing the nation's mindset regarding the concept of Blacks playing in the major leagues. Robinson's teammates, opponents, and people nationwide watched him play, and came to the realization that African-Americans were, in fact, good enough, smart enough, and gentlemanly enough to play major league baseball. But perhaps more importantly, his performance in America's then-unquestioned national pastime led people to think that if he could play on the Dodgers, it might not be too bad if this other Black person worked on their job, or was given an opportunity previously denied them by virtue of their race.

Clearly much of the societal change that came out of the 1960's was due to the protests of the still-oppressed African-American community that was nonetheless being sent in large numbers to fight - and, in many cases, die - for the "freedom" of the South Vietnamese while African nations on the continent and in the diaspora were gaining independence. Still, a great deal of the groundwork for acceptance of this change was laid by Jackie Robinson, making him a godfather of not only the Hendersons and Loftons, but also of Gov. Douglas Wilder and Gen. Colin Powell; of Bill Cosby and Oprah Winfrey; of Mae Jemison and Ronald McNair; and of Rev. Jesse Jackson and Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.

I'm sure Jackie Robionson earned far more as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers than the average African-American in the 1940's and 1950's, but certainly America could never have paid him enough for that which he did. When we look back on his life, and all that occurred as a result, perhaps the best tribute and posthumous payment we can make to this man who stole home would be to make our society truly the "home of the brave."