Today was Jackie robinson day in baseball today. players wore the number 42 to honor the man for breaking the color barrier.
But you must ask the question what exactly did he do? People say he had courage to break the color barrier. That he did. But maybe we should give some credit to Branch Rickey. Branch Rickey has been considered the smartest baseball GM in history. It was said of him (during the cold war) that if he sat down with russia all theyd have left was siberia and some left handed pitchers. He had an eye for talent. However, his best and most revolutionary idea was that we should allow blacks to play baseball. Branch Rickey, who was the GM for the dodgers had the idea to sign Robinson. He was the initiator. Robinson only agreed to play. Rickey had the courage to come up with the idea of ending the racism that had permeated baseball. Rickey had the courage to seek value where nobody else was willing to see it. Yes, we should give credit to Robinson for being the one to do it. However, give Rickey his due.