Robinson integrated baseball during a time when schools, buses, restaurants,
hotels, and drinking fountains were segregated. After joining the Brooklyn
Dodgers in 1947, Robinson faced death threats, vulgar insults, hate-filled
fans, along with bean balls aimed at his head and sharp, shiny spikes at his
face as opponents slid into his tag at second base. Despite the pressure,
Robinson earned a reputation as a dead-solid ballplayer through his no-nonsense
fielding, reliable line-drives, and his mastery of his tricky steal of home. Even with having pitchers throw the ball at his head on a regular basis, he ended his career with 1518 hits, a batting average of .311, 197 steals, 137 home runs and 734 runs batted in (RBI's). In the midst of this illustrious career, he won the Rookie of the Year award in 1947, won MVP once, was a six-time all-star and is in the baseball Hall of Fame.