In 1947, the United States was still dealing with racism. Everything was segregated, and Jackie was a very lucky man to get the opportunity that he did. We have Branch Rickey to blame for that. He wanted to bring African American players up into the MLB. Now as you can imagine, this didn't make too many people happy. It even took a while for Jackies teammates to warm up to him. Rickey had to trade 2 players to a different team because they refused to play with Jackie.
Jackie faced teams that were looking to injur him. Pitchers purposely threw balls at his head, runners cleared him, and coaches belittled him. He had to really worry about this in the south. Clouds booed him, umpires called unfair calls for him, and even got kicked off of the field by a cop in the middle of a game. This never stopped Jackie. Jackie was incredibly fast, and whenever he got on base, he would dance around on the bases and get in the pitchers head. In his career, he had 197 stolen bases. That is incredible! He even stole home a few times. How do you even do that? He was amazing. Now at first, these coaches and fans were getting in his head, and it was affecting how he hit. Finally, He got in the groove, and it seemed like he was always on base. He had a career total of 137 home runs.
Another problem Jackie faced was that the hotels his team was staying at wouldn't let him stay there. Eventually, none of his team could stay in the hotels. A lot of his teammates were very upset at him.
There is a movie based off of Jackies story called 42, and it is just about the greatest thing you will ever watch. I get goosebumps everytime I watch it and it never gets old. Sports stories like his are the best to hear about. It makes you appreciate a lot more and it makes you work harder. I suggest that every single person on the planet watches the movie, 42, I promise you it will benefit you in some way.
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