Jackie Robinson 60th Aniversary
Jackie Robinson became the first player in fifty-seven years to break the Baseball color line.
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) became the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era in 1947. The Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Robinson in 1962 and he was a member of six World Series teams. He earned six consecutive All-Star Game nominations and won several awards during his career. In 1947, Robinson won The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award and the first MLB Rookie of the Year Award Award. Two years later, he was awarded his first National League MVP Award. In addition to his accomplishments on the field, Jackie Robinson was also a forerunner of the Civil Rights Movement. He was a key figure in the establishment and growth of the Freedom Bank, an African-American owned and controlled entity, in the 1960s. He also wrote a syndicated newspaper column for a number of years, in which he was an outspoken supporter of Martin Luther King Jr. and, to a lesser degree, Malcolm X.
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