BREAKER OF BARRIERS
Jackie Robinson donned a Montreal Royals uniform 75 years ago and became the first Black athlete to play pro baseball. While he only stayed in this city for one year, he left an indelible mark on history.
It was pure Hollywood.
What Jackie Robinson of the Montreal Royals did 75 years ago, on April 18, 1946, was the kind of stuff you couldn't dream would happen.
Robinson, playing second base for the International League's Royals, set aside any pressure or trepidation by going 4-for-5 with a three-run homer, three singles, four runs batted in, four runs scored and two stolen bases in his debut as the first Black athlete to play pro baseball.
In an era of systemic racism, Robinson had excelled in his first game with Montreal. It was one for the record books. After much posturing, baseball's white-bread establishment broke from institutionalized exclusion of an entire ethnic group by allowing a Black player to break the colour barrier.
One of the last surviving links to that game is 95-year-old Larry Miggins. He played third base that day for the opposing Jersey City Reds, who were hammered 14-1 by Robinson and the Royals before close to 52,000 raucous fans at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, N.J.
“Is it that long ago?” Miggins asked during a phone interview from Houston.
Miggins, who is in good health and doesn't need glasses to read the Houston Chronicle every day, attributed his longevity to having 12 children. His memory is so sharp he remembers every at-bat Robinson had that day.
“First time up, he hit a ground ball to short,” Miggins said. “Second time up, he drops a bunt down on me and beats the ball to first. I had a good throw, but he could run. Third time up, he pulled a home run to left. We were told before the game he was a pull hitter. Fourth time up, he hit a line-drive single to right. Fifth time up, he puts another bunt down on me. I was playing back like an idiot. He went 4-for-5.
“Nobody knew Robinson, (but) it was all over the papers that he was going to be playing that day. Our manager saw him in batting practice and Robinson hit a few balls over the fence.”
The fact that a Black athlete was playing that well didn't faze Miggins and he recognized immediately that Robinson had the tools to excel in the major leagues.
“Sure, he had potential,” Miggins said. “I'm not surprised. He could hit the ball anywhere. He was a bigleague hitter. He was a strong, pull hitter.”
Robinson's auspicious start was only the beginning of what was an outstanding season.
He was voted the International league's Most Valuable Player after he hit .349 with 113 runs, 66 RBIS, 40 stolen bases and a .929 OPS (onbase plus slugging).
To bookend the season, Robinson and the Royals captured the International League title. When the final game of the championship series concluded in Montreal, fans stormed the field to mob Robinson after he returned for an encore.
The cheering fans tugged at his uniform, hugged him and carried him on their shoulders, eliciting tears from Robinson. When he left the clubhouse in civilian clothes, he was mobbed again.
“Montreal was a near-perfect launching place for Jackie because of the atmosphere,” his widow, Rachel, told me in 1997.
“We had many special times in Montreal. It was a harmonious atmosphere. We enjoyed our stay there.”
Robinson went on to become the first player to break Major League Baseball's colour barrier when he suited up in 1947 with the Royals' parent team, the Brooklyn Dodgers.
He became a star big-leaguer and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1962.
Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey had selected Robinson to try to end discrimination in baseball and gambled that Montreal would be a suitable venue for his experiment because he felt there would be less discrimination there.
Memories of Robinson abound in Montreal. The Royals' home park, Delorimier Downs, no longer exists, but a plaque honouring Robinson's accomplishments stands at the corner of Delorimier and Ontario Streets.
Another plaque can be found on de Gaspé St. marking the apartment Robinson and his wife shared during the 1946 season.
A mural of Robinson was painted in 2017 on a building on St-laurent Blvd. near Napoleon St. and a statue of Robinson handing a ball to a child stands outside Olympic Stadium.
As the baseball world celebrates Robinson's groundbreaking game, Miggins has a nice memento from that day: a photo of him standing at third base as Robinson slides in safely.