African American baseball legend is honored on April 15th
By: Taren Vaughan
Today we celebrate one of the most influential Major League Baseball players of all time, Jackie Robinson. Robinson became the first African American baseball player to participate in a MLB game. On April 15th, 1947, Jackie Robinson debuted as a Brooklyn Dodger. History was made during this game as the color barrier in Major League Baseball came crashing down.
Not only was Robinson influential in breaking the color lines in professional baseball, he also became the first black television analyst in professional baseball. His impact on the world of baseball was phenomenal. As a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Robinson found much success winning the 1955 World Championship and being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. Robinson’s list of accomplishments is quite long as he was so instrumental in the changes that were made to the game of baseball. Jackie Robinson, along with other baseball greats such as Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, changed the face of professional baseball forever. Thanks to Mr. Robinson, players like Ken Griffey Jr., David Justice, Kenny Lofton and Barry Bonds got the opportunity to showcase their talents in the sports world.
Numerous cities across the United States are hosting their own events in celebration of Jackie Robinson Day. So take a moment today to honor the historical legacy of one of the greatest players to grace the diamond.
Today is the sixty-third anniversary of the debut of Jackie Robinson. Last year on April 15, 2009, Ken Griffey, Jr. hit the Emerald Home Run on the 144th memorial of Abraham Lincoln and the 557th birthday of Leonardo da Vinci. Seventeen years prior on the same day Griffey hit home run number 62 and then 17 days later he hit home run 63 on the day da Vinci died. He was the only player on record to hit home runs on those days with no home runs in between. It was the 127th year memorial of Lincoln. Ten years later on the 137th memorial of Lincoln, Mike Cameron the same occurrence in his home runs except Mike he four home runs on the day da Vinci died. The 127/137 parallel is an identical match to the ages of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis when she passed away. Mysteriously, Jackie Robinson had 137 career home runs. Abraham was 135 when his father Terah died. Last year on June 23, 2009, Griffey made history again and hit the 5000th home run of the Mariners. Five thousand years prior Lamech, the father of Noah, was 135 years old. He lived to age 777. When Griffey hit the 5000th home run of the Mariners against the Padres, the Padres recorded 777 players in their history through 2009. Griffey’s first two home runs in 2009 were 612 and 613 adding up to 1225, which matches 12-25 (Christmas Day). Through the 2009 season, all players born on Christmas Day combined in MLB history for 777 home runs. The 777th home run was on the 127th day of the year in 2009. The second 777 occurrence was on the 135th day of the year in 2009, and the third was on the 137th day of the year in 2009. A cluster of seven 777 home runs were hit which total by month and day, 5000. There were two others which eclipse the 800 threshold by the end of the year. The attendance in MLB on those two dates was 776,000. You can read more at TheEmeraldHomeRun.blogspot.com. The book is forthcoming.