Jackie's Debut a Unique Day

October 25, 1972

Saturday, men of the neighborhood, who sat in chairs on the sidewalk outside the tavern, had talked about what it would do to baseball. Jackie Robinson, the man who was going to somehow wreck everything at Wrigley Field. By noon, Wrigley Field was almost filled. The crowd outside spilled off the sidewalk and into the streets. Everybody looked slightly ill at ease.

Robinson came up in the first inning. It wasn't the shrill, teenage cry you now hear or an excited gut roar. The crowd applauded, long, rolling applause.

Robinson didn't get a hit or do anything special, although he was cheered on every swing and every routine play. But two things happened nobody will ever forget. Robinson played first, and early in the game a Cub star hit a grounder and it was a close play. Late in the game, Robinson was up again, and he hit another foul ball. Somehow I had a baseball. I was glad I had sold the baseball to a man for $10. And if that man is still around, and has that baseball, I'm sure he thinks it was worth every cent.

This writing piece was very well thought out in storytelling, as it speaks about our history here in the U.S. Back then there was still a ton of racism and most baseball players were white. However, Jackie Robinson was a black man who made history. Baseball has a way to connect any baseball fan even if the color of their skin was white.

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