Jackie Robinson

OWE: And now, our "Most Moment," a time when baseball was a national obsession, but segregation was a national sin. As our images reveal, it's April 15, 1947 and the Brooklyn Dodgers are facing off against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field. Debuting for the Dodgers at first base is Jackie Robinson. >> SHARON ROBINSON: I think, uh, that first moment-- just from what my mother and father have told me growing up-- you know, there was a mixture of excitement, um, challenge. Inherent in being a leader or a pioneer is the ability to take risk, and my dad, um, was a competitor... a risk-taker. ( cheering ) >> ROWE: Born in 1919-- into a legally segregated America-- Jack Roosevelt Robinson had always excelled at athletics... playing on integrated teams at both Pasadena Junior College and UCLA... where he became the first student to letter in four sports. In 1945-- following a stint in the military-- Robinson started his professional baseball career with the Kansas City Monarchs of the *** Leagues. That year, he came to the attention of Branch Rickey... the legendary general manager of the storied Brooklyn Dodgers. >> ROBINSON: Branch Rickey was an incredible visionary. The pressure was on to integrate baseball, and he saw himself as a vehicle to do that... and my father as the person to make that successful. >> ROWE: Rickey knew this "great experiment" wouldn't be easy. He also knew he'd have to deal with Robinson's one flaw... his temper. >> ROBINSON: As Branch Rickey was having this meeting with my father and baiting him, knowing that my father had a real fiery temper, um, he was saying to him, "You have to hold that temper back in order to make this successful." >> ROWE: Robinson signed a contract with Branch Rickey and, in 1946, joined the Dodgers' farm team in Montreal. He quickly captured the fans' hearts and the league's batting title. Then, came the call to the majors. >> ROBINSON: It wasn't like he planned his life that this was what he was going to do, but when the opportunity presented itself, he wanted the opportunity. A true leader accepts the responsibility when it's placed upon them. >> ROWE: On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson takes the field as number 42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers... shattering the major league's color barrier. Taunts from the crowd and from opposing players sting Robinson's ears but cannot shake his resolve. He goes one for three at the plate and manages to score the game-winning run. He keeps his cool. He plays his game. >> ROBINSON: Such a... the contrast of, uh, the... you know, the hostility that would come from the-the white "fans" who did not want to see this susuccessful and then the, um, the changeover as they saw him perform. He had won them over because he brought an excitement to the game that they didn't have before, um, from the stealing of bases and, particularly stealing home... to the way he ran, to the way he played defensively. >> ROWE: Jackie Robinson led the league with 29 stolen bases and was voted Rookie of the Year for 1947. Robinson and the Dodgers went on to win the pennant that year and the World Series in 1955. Jackie's courage and commitment soon opened the door for other African-American superstars like Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. A prominent role model in the Black community, Jackie Robinson used his celebrity to help promote desegregation and the civil rights movement. But Jackie Robinson will always be remembered for what he brought to baseball... and to America. >> ROBINSON: Major League Baseball, at that time, was at the core of the American society so to have that closed was a statement-- a huge statement about our society... and so it wasn't just that he was opening up a sport, he was opening up American society. >> ROWE: In 1962, Jackie Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame-- testament to his prowess on the field. He died ten years later, and on his gravestone was an epitaph he had written himself. "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." By his own standard, Robinson's life was very important indeed. For the History Channel, I'm Mike Rowe. Join me next time on The Most.