Thanks Jackie!
On this date in baseball history, Jackie Robinson debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Also on this date in 1865, the 16th President, Abrham Lincoln, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, a document that made all slaves free in the USA. April 15th is a great day that helped us to live in a better nation and made baseball a better sport.
Thanks to the efforts of Abraham Lincoln and Jackie Robinson, tonight when I sit down to watch the Cleveland Indians against the Baltimore Orioles, I will have the opportunity to see the best nine players for either team, no matter what their race or creed. I will want only for my favorite team, the Cleveland Indians to win. This is the joy of baseball, the joy of America's pastime. If one plays for Cleveland, they will be cheered. The opportunity that Branch Rickey helped created and Jackie Robinson agreed to helped all teams become better and allowed my Cleveland Indians to have the first African American ballplayer in the American League as well as the first African American manager.
Tonight thanks to the efforts of the 2011 Cleveland Indians, I will see two winning organizations battle it out. Granted it is early but to see winning baseball in Cleveland is a wonderful opportunity, an opportunity I will be lucky to experience tonight. So when I see the game tonight, I will realize that the winning could not be possible unless a man named Jackie played 64 years ago. Thank God for this day, a day that makes us all happier.
