Jackie Robinson Throws Out The First pitch At The Second Game Of The World Series

On October 15, 1972, Jackie Robinson threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the second game of the World Series commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of his becoming the first African-American to play in modern Major League Baseball.

His Major League career began in earnest on April 15, 1947, when played in his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Following his retirement from baseball, Robinson worked as vice president for personnel at Chock Full O' Nuts from 1957 to 1964. He was also active with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In December 1956, the NAACP had recognized Robinson with the Spingarn Medal, which it awards annually for the highest achievement by an African American. Robinson chaired the NAACP's million-dollar Freedom Fund Drive in 1957 and was a member of the board of directors until 1967.

Many other groups also honored Robinson. In July 1962, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference held a testimonial dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. Although SCLC president Martin Luther King was not able to attend, King's speech recognized the positive impact of Robinson's achievements beyond baseball.

Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era. While not the first African-American player in major league history, Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization in the mid-1940s. This ended a nearly sixty-year era of segregation in professional baseball, in which African-Americans were prohibited from competing in Major League Baseball and its affiliated minor league systems, and were instead relegated to the Negro Leagues. Since segregation dominated most aspects of American life at the time, Robinson's baseball career had a major cultural impact beyond sports and was a significant precursor to the subsequent Civil Rights Movement.