Jackie Robinson is not only one of the most influential figures in baseball history, but in American history in itself. Seventy years ago on April 15th, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and became the first African-American to play in the Major Leagues. Every year from there on out now is known throughout the baseball community as Jackie Robinson Day, where every player in uniform wears his number, 42. His influence on the world in regards to sports and race is unquestioned as seen in the two tweets below and his legacy will never die. However, as time goes on, more and more people use Jackie Robinson Day as a day to address a serious issue in the baseball world. The lack of African-American’s in the game.
Sharon Robinson’s message is simple: "Baseball, sure. But not just baseball." https://t.co/7azMJQjLax @barrysvrluga #JackieRobinsonDay
— Dad 2.0 Summit (@dad2summit) April 15, 2017
Jackie Robinson's impact on America will never dissipate, writes @JasonKeidel. Read https://t.co/5q8JzmqDVI #JackieRobinsonDay #MLB
— The People's Station (@V103Atlanta) April 16, 2016
As we celebrate barrier-breaking accomplishments on #JackieRobinsonDay check out this report on race in #MLB today: https://t.co/q4DZNeKkZ3
— BULLET BELT™ (@FastStarts) April 15, 2016
Eye opening article on the lack of diversity amongst pitchers in the MLB! #JackieRobinsonDay https://t.co/gGZR3NJ0XN
— Heather Hennessy (@realheatherh) April 16, 2016
Baseball is still seen as a white man’s sport, despite all the efforts Jackie Robinson went through to push through the color barrier. About only 7% of baseball players are African-American and a more shocking statistic, only 14 major league pitchers are African-American. There are thirty teams and twenty five players on an active roster, so 14 out of 750 players, or 1.8% are African-American pitchers. Why is this happening?
The game has yet to embrace black culture. https://t.co/oFNm5BrAHr #JackieRobinsonDay
— Fred Mim (@fred_mim) April 15, 2017
Something to think about on #JackieRobinsonDay. Thanks for pointing this out @evanFmoore and @MorganPCampbell. https://t.co/8kZZQaedgL pic.twitter.com/KjznbFrvaa
— Tweed Thornton (@Tweed_Thornton) April 15, 2017
One of these reasons is the amount of money baseball requires for potential future big-leaguers to be noticed at the amateur level as well as the college level for recruiting. This brings up the conversation of race and income and the lack of opportunity due to finances. Yet, thanks to Jackie Robinson Day, sportswriter use this opportunity to highlight his legacy, but also the amount of work that needs to be done in order for Jackie Robinson’s dream to fully come true.