he Robinsons had five children: Matthew, Edgar, Willa Mae, Frank and John Roosevelt. The last child would become famous under a different name; he would be called ôJackie.ö Jackie was born on January 31, 1919. The next year Rogers Hornsy would win the national league title with a .370 average, the first of six titles in a row.
Though Jackie may have heard of Hornsby, he did not know him. Later, when the first African American would play in the majors, Jackie would hear Hornsby say, ôBallplayers on the road live close together . . . it wonÆt workö (ôRookie of the Yearö 70-76).
Mallie became the sole supporter of the family when Jackie was only one year old. She had to spend endless hours in heavy manual labor. Jackie would remember her as a loving, and concerned mother. He described her in one of his books:
Those were hard times for all of us, particularly for her. Yet, wonderful women that she is, she was not content merely to feed and clothe us. She was determined to see that we got an education and had a chance to amount to something. Realizing that southern Georgia was hardly a land of opportunity for poor Negroes, she somehow mustered the means and the courage to move us to Pasadena, California, to live (Robinson 7).
Jackie realized that athletics come the closest to offering an African American equality of opportunity. Fortunately, Jackie was well endowed.
At Muir Technical High School in Pasadena, Jackie played football, basketball, ran on the track team and took a mild interest in baseball. After high school, he attended Pasadena City College, a two-year junior college. After graduation, Jackie enrolled in UCLA. Here he excelled in football. Jackie relates
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