In 1939, Jackie went to the University of California, Los Angeles. While at UCLA, Jackie played basketball, ran track, played varsity baseball, and started for the Bruins football team.
He excelled at each of these sports and became the first athlete in UCLA history to play in four different sports in one year. Until 1947 he was thought of to be the only person ever selected to play in the college all-star games in both basketball and football. He left college in 1941 because of financial problems, and he did not have many credits from a bachelor's degree.
In the late 1940's, Branch Rickey was club president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Dodgers began to scout Robinson and Rickey eventually selected Jackie from a list of very good African-American players. Robinson became the first player in fifty-seven years to break the Baseball color line.
In 1946, the Dodgers assigned to Jackie to Montreal Royals. Because of how well Jackie played in 1946, the Dodgers called him up to play for the major league club in 1947. Robinson first game was on April 15, 1947. Jackie went 0-3 and played first base.
Although Jackie played every game that season at first base, Robinson spent most of his career as a second baseman. Later in his career, he played games at third base and in the outfield.
Through-out the season, Robinson experienced harassment at the hands of both players and fans. He was verbally assaulted by both his own teammates and by members of opposing teams. Several Dodger players said they would go on strike if they had to play alongside Robinson. The hatred ended when Dodger management informed those players that they were welcome to find another team to play on.
Jackie earned the major-league minimum salary of $5000, which was standard for many rookies at the time. That year, he played in 151 games, hit .297, lead the National League in stolen bases and won the Rookie of the Year award.
Two years later, Jackie won the Most Valuable Player award for the National League. Jackie won his only championship ring when the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in the 1955 World Series.
After the 1956 season, Robinson was sold by the Dodgers to the New York Giants. Rather than report to the Giants, Robinson chose to retire at age 37.
