AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Seventy-five years in the past, Jackie Robinson made his Main League Baseball debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers breaking the colour barrier, sparking change for the sport of baseball perpetually.

We spoke to native gamers and coaches about how Robinson’s legacy impacts them in Augusta.

“I believe lots of people don’t acknowledge the hardships he went via, with quite a lot of anxiousness, quite a lot of despair, the dying threats, quite a lot of issues day in and time out simply to return out right here and play the sport that he cherished and loved,” mentioned David Barnes, Greenbrier, head baseball coach.

April 15, 1947. A day 75 years previously, however a legacy that transcends any ballpark.

“He paved that approach, broke that colour barrier, and impressed individuals to do one thing whether or not it’s in sports activities or life,” he mentioned.

Robinson gave a future and a actuality for what was a dream for thus many.

Theron Powell, Augusta College baseball senior, outfielder mentioned: “He’s a hero to me as a result of he paved the best way for black athletes to play the sport of baseball. I’ve been enjoying this sport since I used to be 18 years previous. It’s been an actual blessing to have him to look as much as.”

Three years later, 42 made his technique to Augusta, enjoying in entrance of a packed home at previous Jennings Stadium. Since gone, however his footprint is embedded within the backyard metropolis.

The MLB retired Robinson’s quantity 42 in 1997. To recollect Jackie Robinson Day, all MLB gamers, managers, and umpires all put on quantity 42.

Damien Williams, pitcher mentioned: “I used to be capable of get the possibility as a result of, possibly if it wasn’t for him, baseball would nonetheless be the way it was again within the day.”

In the present day, the MLB has one of many smallest percentages of black gamers since its integration in 1959.

For native gamers, at this time is a reminder that his work isn’t over.

Powell mentioned: “It’s just a little little bit of each, monetary, and an absence of the phrase getting out of black athletes studying the sport of baseball, going to camps, getting the chance to go to camps, enjoying for a journey staff. If we open it as much as the black group, it could come to assist them play this lovely sport.”

Copyright 2022 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.