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April 18, 1947 Jackie Robinson First Major League Home Run Program
Displayed is the program/scorecard from the April 18, 1947, game at New York City's Polo Grounds in which Jackie Robinson's hit his first Major League home run. The game was also Robinson's first away game. The game is scored in pencil on the scorecard that is a part of the program. The scoring is basic, with an "O" used to indicate a batted out. The method of whoever scored the game was to use a number from 1 to 4 to indicate a hit, with a "4" meaning a home run. The 12-page program/scorecard cost 10 cents and measures approx. 6.5x9.75". Robinson batted second and played first base. He had a single in his first at bat, in the opening inning and he hit a bases empty home run in the top of the third, off the Giants' starter, winning pitcher Dave Koslo. Vic Lombardi took the Brooklyn loss. The 10-4 Giants win is completely scored. Hall of Famer Pee Wee Reese played shortstop, and three Dodgers who reportedly signed the infamous petition to keep Robinson from playing for the Dodgers, circulated and signed during the '47 spring training, (Eddie Stanky, Dixie Walker, and Bobby Bragan) are all in the Dodgers line-up in this third game of the '47 season, but by 1948, Stankey and Walker were gone from the Dodgers, and Bragan played in only nine games for the '48 Dodgers, spending most of his season with the Dodgers' AA farm team in Fort Worth. Robinson became the National League Rookie of the Year in '47, leading the NL in stolen bases with 29 and in sacrifice hits with 28. Robinson batted .297 in his first Major League season and hit 12 home runs. He helped the Dodgers to six pennants and the Brooklyn Dodgers to the team's only World Championship, in 1955. Because of baseball's unofficial "Color Line," Robinson did not play Major League baseball until he was 28 years old. Yet his ten seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers made Robinson not only a Hall of Famer on playing ability alone, but a key figure in the civil rights movement of America. The program is in overall excellent condition, but there are several very small partial tears on various pages because of the brittle nature of the paper after over 75 years. The program also exhibits some expected toning because of the passage of time. Yet, the aforementioned defects are of minor significance and the program presents beautifully.
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