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Jackie Robinson's Speech - October 15, 1972 - his last public speech
Jackie Robinson is by no means the greatest player in baseball history. He holds no cherished records in the manner of a Hank Aaron or a Joe DiMaggio, and his career numbers fall far short of the statistical milestones by which we currently measure “greatness”. But as former Negro League star Buck O’Neill once observed, Robinson may not have been the best player of his era, but he was the right player for the task history set before him. As such, Jackie Robinson is the pivotal figure in baseball’s narrative and perhaps its greatest hero. Only a man with Robinson’s singular mix of talent, tenacity, and temperament could have taken up the lonely task of breaking baseball’s color barrier. No player before or since has had to perform under the weight of such a great burden. On one shoulder, Robinson bore the hopes and future aspirations of a people too long denied their share of the American promise; on the other, he bore the fierce scorn and violent enmity of those who preferred that baseball, and American life in general, remain a segregated affair. That he rose to the challenge and thrived under the pressure was an affirmation of America’s founding principle, the proposition that all men are indeed created equal. His triumph, coming a full seven years before Rosa Parks’ defiant “sit”, can be seen as the first great victory of the modern civil rights movement. Martin Luther King, Jr, who followed Robinson’s exploits as a teenager, hailed him as “a pilgrim that walked in the lonesome byways toward the high road of Freedom… a sit-inner before sit-ins, a freedom rider before freedom rides.” His success paved the way for a new generation of superstars – Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Frank Robinson, to name but a few - who would go on to revolutionize the game and help redefine American culture.
Jackie's Career Highlights:
https://thisdayinbaseball.com/jackie-robinsonjackie-robinson-career-highlights/
Read about these events and much more - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/this-day-in-baseball-july-26/
July 26, 1933 The 61-game hitting streak of the San Francisco Seals' 18-year-old rookie, Joe DiMaggio, is stopped by Ed Walsh, Jr. of the Oakland Oaks.
Babe Ruth makes his final public appearance on July 26, 1948. Ruth visited the film premiere of "The Babe Ruth Story." and would succumb to throat cancer just three weeks later.
July 26, 1962 in New York, pitcher Gene Conley and infielder Pumpsie Green of the Red Sox mysteriously disappear after a 13 - 3 loss to the Yankees. They get off a team bus in traffic to use a rest room but fail to return. Conley decides he wants to fly to Israel, and goes to the airport, but is refused a ticket because he does not have a visa. Conley is perhaps best known for being the only person to win championships in two of the four major American sports, one with the Milwaukee Braves in the 1957 World Series and three Boston Celtics championships from 1959-61.
Johnny Bench of the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds collects his 300th career home run in a 12-3 loss to the New York Mets on July 26th, 1978. In the same game, Cincinnati’s Pete Rose, aka “Charlie Hustle”, extends his hitting streak to 39 games. Rose’s streak will eventually reach 44 games - a new National League record which would attract massive interest nationwide.
The Hall of Fame expands by three members on July 26th, 1987. Jim “Catfish” Hunter, Billy Williams, and Ray Dandridge are honored in Induction Ceremonies in Cooperstown. Hunter played on five world champions and was called “Catfish” by Oakland owner Charles O. Finley for no other reason than Finley thought his new pitcher needed a flashy nickname.
July 26, 1991 Montreal's Mark Gardner pitches a no-hitter for nine innings against the Dodgers before Lenny Harris beats out an infield single in the 10th. The Dodgers would get two more hits, including an RBI single by Darryl Strawberry, to plate the only run of the contest. After a 2-out walk in the 1st to Eddie Murray, Gardner retires 19 in a row.
The Expos manage only two hits themselves against the combined efforts of Orel Hershiser, Kevin Gross, and Jay Howell. Gardner is the 11th pitcher to lose a no-hitter after nine innings and the first pitcher to hurl nine no-hit innings against the Dodgers since Johnny Vander Meer, in 1938.
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