New from Dugout Dirt: Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season by Jonathan Eig

#JackieRobinson #Baseball #Sports #Books

https://dugoutdirt.com/2025/10/29/opening-day-jackie-robinson-jonathan-eig/

Today in Labor History, October 30, 1945: Jackie Robinson signed a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking the baseball color line in Major League Baseball. His first game with the Dodgers was in April, 1947. Robinson was an accomplished athlete, becoming the first student at UCLA to win letters in 4 different sports (baseball, basketball, football and track). Though he only played MLB for 10 seasons, he was MLB’s first Rookie of the Year, was a 6-time All-Star, and won the Most Valuable Player Award in 1949. He also played in six World Series. In response to racist protests by his teammates, manager Leo Durocher said, "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." Robinson’s teammate and fellow hall-of-famer Pee Wee Reese said, "You can hate a man for many reasons. Color is not one of them."

#workingclass #LaborHistory #JackieRobinson #racism #dodgers #brooklyn #baseball #mlb

October 23, 1945 - Jackie Robinson and pitcher John Wright were signed by Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers Baseball Club, to play on a Dodger farm team, the Montreal Royals of the International League.

Robinson became the first black baseball player to play on a major league team.

#JackieRobinson #MLB

Jackie Robinson: breaking barriers and making history one game at a time. ⚾✊

#JackieRobinson #Trailblazer #HistoryMaker

📜 New Substack Drop:
Gold, Stone, Diamond, and Ink
Four poems for four moments in American myth—
💰 Greed (Black Friday, 1869)
🪨 Reverence (Devils Tower, 1906)
⚾ Grace (Jackie Robinson & Ebbets Field, 1957)
📚 Resistance (Little Rock Nine, 1957)

I wrote sonnets and stanzas to hold what this country keeps forgetting.

https://wittgensteinsmonster.substack.com/p/gold-stone-diamond-and-ink

#ThisDayInHistory #Poetry #AmericanHistory #BlackFriday #LittleRockNine #JackieRobinson #DevilsTower #EshuElegbara #TheMirrorCycle

📜 This Day in History – September 24, 1957
The Brooklyn Dodgers played their final game at Ebbets Field.

Before they left, a man changed history on that diamond.

🎩 Ode to Jackie Robinson:

Jackie—number 42—
you bore the weight no one else knew.
You cracked the myth, exposed the lie.
You turned a diamond to sacred sky.

#ThisDayInHistory #JackieRobinson #EbbetsField #BrooklynDodgers #BaseballPoetry #EshuElegbara