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64 Years Ago Today
Jackie Robinson breaks the color barrier
By Dan Clouser
April 15, 1947, a significant day not only in baseball history, but more importantly in American history. It was on that day that Jackie Roosevelt Robinson took the field to play first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbetts Field in front of a crowd of 26,623 fans, becoming the first black player to play in the Major League of Professional Baseball.
What Robinson did that day in the face of racial slurs and social tension took more courage than most men could ever dream of. Every day as youngsters and adults we have the privilege of stepping onto a baseball field and playing a game that we all love. We take for granted what a man like Jackie Robinson went through to make this simple task of going to  work or playing this game every day a reality. As much as we all love going to the ball park to play this great game of baseball, I have to wonder would we still want to do it knowing that every time that we walk into the club house that some of our teammates despise the very fact that we are there? Knowing that every time that we walk onto the field at our home ballpark, thousands of your "hometown" fans will be booing you and making racial slurs towards you? Knowing that the fans actions on the road are many times worse than that? Knowing that every time you step into the batters box, that there is a very good chance that a pitch will be thrown at your head? Knowing that every time that you attempt to turn a double-play, that your opponent isn't coming in hard to simply break-up the play, but literally trying to break your legs in the process? To think that all of these things were done to this man not because these people knew him and felt that he was a bad person because of something that he had done to them, but simply because of the color of his skin. What type of courage did it take for Jackie Robinson to go through all of that and still want to come to the ballpark everyday?
The game of baseball itself overcame the human prejudice that existed when Jackie first took the field on April 15, 1947. The game itself always has been and always will be color-blind. Jackie Robinson's skills as a ballplayer slowly won over those around him, not because he was a black baseball player, but because he was a great baseball player. In the end, the game itself overcame and again those around Jackie Robinson, realized that he was not only a great baseball player, but more importantly a great man.
Jackie was once quoted as saying, "A life isn't significant except for its impact on other lives." Jackie Robinson's life impacted an entire nation by the courage that he displayed simply by stepping on the baseball field.
I find it amazing how many of our young people today do not truly understand the impact that Jackie Robinson had on baseball and American society in general.
Our organization will be hosting the Jackie Robinson Classic this weekend to honor one of the greatest individuals in American history. Since we first published this event, I have been amazed in speaking with adults and young people alike who did not realize the significance of the fact that this tournament was being held on the weekend of April 15-17 or the significance of the fact that we chose to have a special entry fee of $420.00 to honor Jackie's number 42, which has been retired throughout Major League Baseball. As we move forward and make this an annual event, we will continue to do things to help educate those participating in the event as of the impact that Jackie Robinson had on baseball and American history.
Sixty-Four years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier Major League Baseball, I find it somewhat discouraging that youth baseball in the year 2011 is still almost as segregated today as what it was in 1947. As an organization that hosts so many youth baseball tournaments throughout the year, I find it amazing that we still have so many youth baseball teams comprised of all white kids, all black kids or all Latino kids. I'm not sure that is what Jackie Robinson had in mind when he endured all of those nasty things on the field so that others could follow in his footsteps. Jackie Robinson's goal was not for a black man to play Major League Baseball, but for a black man to stand beside a white man on a baseball diamond and to be judged as equals.
Youth baseball today is not there yet, Jackie's goal was to integrate all of society, all of sports, not just at the professional level. Many young ballplayers today are in for a complete culture shock when they get to college or the professional level and have never played the game with a teammate with a different skin color or cultural background.
Knowing how people of color have been treated in the past in this country makes me ashamed to be a white American. Knowing how far we've come is encouraging, knowing that we still have a very long way to go is a little frustrating, but if everyone pitches in, the dreams of people like Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King can be attained by people being judged by their qualities as a human being instead of the color of their skin. | 
