On April 15, 1947, 28-year-old Jackie Roosevelt Robinson played batted second and played first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers during its Opening Day 5-3 victory over the Boston Braves. It was the first of 1,382 Major League games and, for a variety of reasons, it may have also been his most important; it was the first MLB game in modern times that included an African-American player.
On the 50th anniversary of this historic moment, Major League Baseball retired Robinson’s jersey number 42 … permanently. Ten years later, in 2007, MLB chose to further honor Robinson by annually celebrating “Jackie Robinson Day” every April 15 when all uniformed personnel where number 42 … no matter the team.
Though Robinson had long been retired by the time I was born and passed away in 1972 when I was but 5, I’ve always had affinity for his story and the aura surrounding it and him. When my wife and I visited Cooperstown, NY, recently, I once again lingered in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s Plaque Gallery at his plaque. That is where this week’s Fan Teaser image originates.
In 1999 ESPN produced a series of 100 biographies entitled “SportsCentury” in which it counted down the Top 100 North American Athletes of the 20th Century. In my mind, Robinson was under ranked at #15, but what do I know. Here is the Robinson biography via YouTube broken into seven parts.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser comes courtesy of longtime buddy, Pat Schutte. The cropped photo below and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you by the early kickoff on Sunday.