Earl Heath | Contributing Sports Writer
This year Major League Baseball world will be focused on Dodger Stadium as Los Angeles host the 92nd annual midsummer Classic.
It’s an extra special meaning in that Rachel Robinson (Jackie’s widow) will be celebrating her 100th birthday July 19th.
The two met in 1941 and were married in 1946. They had three children Jackie Jr., Sharon and David Robinson.
2022 also marks the 75th anniversary Robison had his debut in 1947. He would go on would go on to play in 151 games hit .297 and won the first Rookie of the Year Award. He led the National League in stolen bases with 29 and collected 175 hits as the Dodgers reached the World Series.
Robinson would play 10 seasons, mostly at second base. He finished with a career average of .311. He played in six World Series for the Dodgers and retired after the 1956 season. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
Today one of Robinson’s biggest legacy is the Jackie Robinson Foundation that generates scholarship’s to young people.
For nearly fifty years, JRF has provided college scholarships coupled with extensive mentoring and leadership development opportunities for highly motivated students of color with limited financial resources. The foundation has awarded scholarships and fellowships to fifteen hundred students attending two hundred and sixty colleges and universities, and it’s mentoring program has helped support a 98 percent graduation rate among its student recipients’.
“Happy Birthday Rachel”
