Happy Jackie Robinson Day ^_^

Today is a special day, not just for baseball, but for professional sports the world over. On this day in 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier in baseball, which at that time was #1 sport in the United States, and became the first African-American baseball player in Major League Baseball history ^_^

Today's generation knows about athletes like Ryan Howard, football's Ray Lewis, or even Tiger Woods of golf, yet Jackie Robinson brought professional sports into the modern era by paving the way for people from all walks of life to pursue careers in all fields, and not be excluded because of the colour of their skin, religious affiliation, or creed.

My favourite baseball team is the Toronto Blue Jays (Sidenote: Sportscaster Buck Martinez calls them the "Boo Jays" o_O He can't pronounce the "BL" sound), but in terms of the history of the game I like the Dodgers because they were Jackie's team. Knowing they play in Los Angeles, I call them the Dodgers and think of them as Brooklyn's team first. My favourite memory of Jackie Robinson is when he stole home plate in Game 1 of the 1955 World Series; Yankees catcher Yogi Berra thought he made the tag, but the umpire ruled otherwise. From there, well, the rest of that play is history ^_^ LOL.

Better writers than I can tell you more about Jackie Robinson's story, which is the subject of many books and television specials, so here is a link to one of them. Enjoy!