Jackie Robinson Career After 1947
After Breaking the Color Barrier, Robinson became an All-Time Great
Sometimes people forget that in addition to breaking baseball's color barrier and being a great Civil Rights figure, Jackie Robinson was one great baseball player.
Jackie Robinson’s greatness as a baseball player is sometimes obscured by his accomplishments as a black man during the era of segregation in America. Sometimes people are led to believe that Jackie Robinson was merely a good player whose sole contribution to baseball was breaking the color barrier. While that is certainly his enduring legacy, it would be a mistake to discount Robinson’s tremendous talent and impact on the baseball field.
Was Jackie Robinson the Best Second Baseman Ever?
Maybe. If you look at Jackie's Robinson's career statistics, he is certainly in the top five, along with Rogers Hornsby, Joe Morgan, Ryne Sandberg and Roberto Alomar. Robinson’s greatest attributes were his blinding speed, his baseball intelligence, and his astonishing versatility. He led the National League in stolen bases twice (1947 & 1949) and finished in the top 10 every year of his career. He also holds the modern record for stealing home, which he did twelve times in his career. Robinson is also the only player in history to steal second, third and home on three consecutive pitches, a feat he accomplished in 1954. He was also the best bunter of his era (along with Phil Rizzutto) and exhibited an unmatched patience at the plate, as evidenced by five career top-10 finishes in walks.
Jackie Robinson could also hit. He finshed his career with .311 batting average. During his peak years from 1949 through 1954, Robinson hit .328, and averaged 93 RBI, 108 Runs, and a .430 On-Base Percentage. Only Hornsby’s run from 1920 through 1925 was better than Jackie’s six year stretch. His greatest season at the plate was 1949, when he hit .342 with 203 hits, 39 Doubles, 12 Triples, 16 Home Runs and 124 RBI. Robinson won the National League MVP and led the Dodgers to another pennant that season.
Jackie Robinson Faced Unique Obstacles
There are a number of factors that need to be considered when judging Robinson’s final career statistics.
First of all, because of the color line, he didn’t debut in the Majors until he was 28 years old. By comparison, the other four great second baseman named above began their careers at an average age of just 20. Assuming that he would have needed to develop in the Majors for a couple of seasons, it is fair to say that Jackie Robinson missed at least five or six years of his baseball playing prime.
Secondly, Robinson didn’t play under ideal circumstances. One need look no further than Alex Rodriguez, who is perhaps the best hitter of his time, to see how a hyper-critical baseball crowd can affect even the best player's performance. If you imagine for a moment the tension and ill will he experienced playing in a game dominated by white, middle class American fans during this era of great conflict, Robinson's accomplishments become that much more impressive.
Perhaps Pee Wee Reese summed it up best when he said: “Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player that could have done what Jackie Robinson did. To be able to hit with everybody yelling at him. He had to block all that out, block out everything but this ball that is coming in at a hundred miles an hour and he's got a split second to make up his mind if it's in, or out, or down, or coming at his head, a split second to swing. To do what he did has got to be the most tremendous thing I've ever seen in sports.”
Jackie Robinson Was the Ultimate Team Player
In Robinson’s ten seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers, they won six National League pennants and their only World Series title. Although he was primarily a second baseman, Jackie Robinson played every position on the field except pitcher. He usually did it to fill in for an injured teammate or just to give one of his friends a day off. Everyone who ever bled Dodger Blue loved Jackie.
Hall of Fame center fielder Duke Snyder said of Robinson: “He was the greatest competitor I ever saw.”
Branch Rickey commented that, “there was no player in history who could put mind and muscle together more quickly than Jackie Robinson.”
Doris Kearns Goodwin, famous Presdential historian and legendary Brooklyn Dodger fan said in her book "Wait 'Til Next Year," that Jackie Robinson was the best baserunner, defender and team leader that she had ever seen.
Pee Wee Reese said it all when he told his friend: "Jackie, they aren’t throwing at you because you’re black. They’re throwing at you because you’re great.”
Yeah, that just about sums it up.
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Click here, to view Jackie Robinson's Rookie Year. and Jackie Robinson's Enduring Legacy.
