Crack of Robinson’s bat made him a star: Guts not to fight back made him a hero (with videos) the-crack-of-jackie-robinsons-bat-made By Barry Courter April 7, 2013 1 min read Click to hear the stories of these new citizens <div class="inline inline_photo" id="2978421"> <div class="fr-img-space-wrap"> <span class="fr-img-caption photo"> <span class="fr-img-wrap"> <a href="/photos/2014/jun/11/2978421/"> <img decoding="async" width="5616" height="3720" alt="photo" class="photo wp-image-1299296" src="https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Ford.jpg" srcset="https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Ford.jpg 5616w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Ford.jpg?resize=300,199 300w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Ford.jpg?resize=768,509 768w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Ford.jpg?resize=1024,678 1024w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Ford.jpg?resize=1536,1017 1536w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Ford.jpg?resize=2048,1357 2048w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Ford.jpg?resize=1216,805 1216w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Ford.jpg?resize=860,570 860w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Ford.jpg?resize=456,302 456w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Ford.jpg?resize=240,159 240w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Ford.jpg?resize=120,79 120w" sizes="(max-width: 5616px) 100vw, 5616px" /> </a> <span class="fr-inner"> Harrison Ford, left, as Branch Rickey and Chadwick Boseman, right, as Jackie Robinson are seen in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures drama “42,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.<br /> </span> </span> </span> </div></div><div class="inline inline-text"><h2></h2><p>FAST FACTS• Born Jan. 31, 1919, in Cairo, Ga.• Was the first athlete in UCLA history to letter in four sports — baseball, basketball, football and track.• He was 28 when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947; he won the inaugural Rookie of the Year award, which covered both the National and American leagues at the time.• In 1949, Robinson led the National League in stolen bases and batting average, was named to his first All-Star Game and won Most Valuable Player.• In 1950, he was paid $35,000, or $333,976 in 2013 dollars, the highest salary of any Dodger; he played himself in a film called “The Jackie Robinson Story.”• From 1952-1954, Robinson helped the Dodgers win three straight National League championships, but they lost the World Series to the New York Yankees in each of those seasons.• In 1955, the Dodgers won the National League pennant and the World Series, the only time Robinson was on a world championship baseball team; he was 37 and had his worst batting average in the pros — .256.• Robinson’s last year in baseball was the 1956 season, and he officially retired on Jan. 5, 1957.• In 1962, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame the first year he was eligible, becoming the first black player in the hall.• Robinson died on Oct. 24, 1972.• The number 42 was universally retired from all teams in Major League Baseball in 1997. New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera is allowed to use No. 42 because he’d had it since he came into the league in 1995, but he is retiring after this season.PREMIEREThe Chattanooga Times Free Press is sponsoring a special “42” premiere at the Majestic 12 on Thursday. Part of Broad Street will be closed off and there will be baseball- and film-related activities open to the public. The movie will be screened at 10 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the theater. The movie opens nationwide on Friday.</p></div><div class="inline inline_photo" id="2978422"> <div class="fr-img-space-wrap"> <span class="fr-img-caption photo"> <span class="fr-img-wrap"> <a href="/photos/2014/jun/11/2978422/"> <img decoding="async" width="1984" height="1670" alt="photo" class="photo wp-image-1299305" src="https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Robinson.jpg" srcset="https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Robinson.jpg 1984w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Robinson.jpg?resize=300,253 300w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Robinson.jpg?resize=768,646 768w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Robinson.jpg?resize=1024,862 1024w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Robinson.jpg?resize=1536,1293 1536w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Robinson.jpg?resize=1216,1024 1216w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Robinson.jpg?resize=860,724 860w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Robinson.jpg?resize=456,384 456w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Robinson.jpg?resize=240,202 240w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42_Robinson.jpg?resize=120,101 120w" sizes="(max-width: 1984px) 100vw, 1984px" /> </a> <span class="fr-inner"> Jackie Robinson, right, poses for a 1947 photo with Brooklyn Dodgers teammates, from left, John Jorgensen, Pee Wee Reese and Ed Stanky.<br /> </span> </span> </span> </div></div><div class="inline inline_photo" id="2978423"> <div class="fr-img-space-wrap"> <span class="fr-img-caption photo"> <span class="fr-img-wrap"> <a href="/photos/2014/jun/11/2978423/"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1624" height="1984" alt="photo" class="photo wp-image-1299315" src="https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42.jpg" srcset="https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42.jpg 1624w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42.jpg?resize=246,300 246w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42.jpg?resize=768,938 768w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42.jpg?resize=838,1024 838w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42.jpg?resize=1257,1536 1257w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42.jpg?resize=1216,1486 1216w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42.jpg?resize=860,1051 860w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42.jpg?resize=456,557 456w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42.jpg?resize=240,293 240w, https://www.timesfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/040713_WEB_a_42.jpg?resize=120,147 120w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1624px) 100vw, 1624px" /> </a> <span class="fr-inner"> Brooklyn Dodgers baseball player Jackie Robinson poses in 1952.<br /> </span> </span> </span> </div></div><p>Sam Gooden was a youngster living and playing baseball in Chattanooga in 1947. When Jackie Robinson made his debut that year with the Brooklyn Dodgers – the first black man in Major League Baseball – every young black kid suddenly wanted to be like him, Gooden said.</p><p>“When he started, he was playing first base and we, as kids in the neighborhood, well, everybody all of a sudden wanted to play first base,” recalls Gooden, now 78 and a member of the vocal group The Impressions.</p><p>“We saw the type of glove he used in pictures in the newspapers and everybody was looking for a mitt like that.”</p><p>Robinson’s entry into baseball reverberated far beyond the world of sports. As surely as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks played their parts in the civil rights struggle, Robinson’s stardom in a baseball-crazy nation was a kind of tipping point. He went on to become far more than a point of pride for blacks in a white world. He became a black man whom everyone could cheer for.</p> Already have an account? Sign in Continue reading Subscribe Need help? 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