How Well Did Jackie Robinson Do on April 15th? 9/10/16

Hey baseball fans!

April 15th is one of the most important days of the baseball season, because it is on that date in 1947 that Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. It was such a momentous occasion in not only baseball history, but also in sports and American history. But how well did Jackie Robinson actually do at the plate on Jackie Robinson Day? Thanks to some rummaging through the Dodgers' schedules and box scores of the late '40s and early '50s, I have an answer.

Including the day that he broke the color barrier, Robinson actually didn't do as well as some would think on April 15th throughout his career. He only played in five games on that date during his career, because MLB seasons back then sometimes started after April 15th. In those five April 15 games in which Jackie played, he only went 2-12 for a batting average of .167. However, there are some bright spots in his stat line on Jackie Robinson Days. For example, he walked on average once a game, which means that for every game he played on April 15, he was on base at least once. He hit his only Jackie Robinson Day home run on April 15, 1954 against the Pirates, which also plated home Pee Wee Reese. He only struck out once in those five games, which came in 1955 against the Giants. Lastly, and this is probably the coolest statistic, every time the Dodgers played on April 15 with Jackie in the lineup, they won!! So maybe Jackie could've done better on his day personally, but the Dodgers as a team did really well.

Thanks for reading this post and I hope you enjoyed it. Check back soon for more of "all the buzz on what wuzz."