This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/24/2015
We are proud to offer a Brooklyn Dodgers program played at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, NY on April 17, 1947 between the Dodgers and the Boston Braves.
Branch Rickey signed Robinson, a multi-sport star at UCLA and shortstop of the Kansas City Monarchs Negro League team, to a contract on Nov. 1, 1945, making him the first African-American player in organized baseball in the 20th century. Jackie played a year for the Dodgers minor league farm club, the Montreal Royals, before being called up to the majors in 1947.
Brooklyn's Opening Series in 1947 was at home vs. the Boston Braves April 15-17, 1947. Jackie started for the Dodgers at first base breaking the color barrier on April 15, failing to get a hit but reaching base on an error and scoring the go ahead run. After the second game was rained out, Boston and Brooklyn matched up again on April 17 with Jackie again at first base and batting second in the Dodger’s lineup.
In the fifth inning of a 12-6 Dodgers victory, Jackie executed a bunt single to third base off Braves pitcher Glenn Elliott for his first major league hit. Jackie would go on that year to win Rookie of the Year honors and lead the Dodgers to the NL Pennant.
The program has 10 pages and is neatly and correctly scored in vintage ink, the scoring contained herein corresponding exactly to the contest of April 17, 1947. The totals were filled in with vintage pencil, in the same hand, after the game.
See scans for Jackie's hit in the fifth inning, with more detail shown in the third scan, of Brooklyn's box score. The schedule, which lists the opening series vs. Boston, is shown in the fourth scan.
The program is remarkably clean and crisp and in near mint condition, virtually as nice as the day it was printed. This is very unusual considering the amount of handling involved in scoring the game and the brittle quality of the paper used in the game programs of the era.
This is a very historically significant program in top condition grade showcasing Jackie Robinson's first hit in his second game as a major league player with the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was the first major league hit by a black player in the 20th century. A fine surviving example is a true rarity as just 10,252 attended the game after 26,623 came to the opener.
A truly remarkable souvenir that would certainly have a place in any advanced baseball, historic program, or Jackie Robinson collection, or in any sports collection for that matter.