The weather has my thoughts turning to spring, baseball, and one of my very few sports heroes -- Jackie Robinson. It was this past April 15, in 1947, that Jackie Robinson broke the Major League Baseball color barrier that had begun in the 1880s.

Wearing a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform with the No. 42, Robinson, made his debut in front of 26,623 baseball fans at the old Ebbets Field. The Dodgers prevailed, 5-3, but really we all won that day.

As Washington Post columnist Shirley Povich wrote in a retrospective in 1997, "Four hundred fifty-five years after Columbus discovered America, white America discovered that blacks could play major league baseball. The first definitive clue was offered by the fifth child of a Cairo, Ga., sharecropper who was selected for the daring racial experiment."

An account in the Library of Congress reveals that, "Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey signed a contract with Robinson to play for the team on Oct. 23, 1945. ... Rickey, who called the move baseball's 'great experiment,' chose Robinson because of his excellent athletic record and strength of character. The first player to 'cross the color line' would have to be able to withstand intense public scrutiny and avoid confrontation even when met with insults and hostility."

Rickey's baseball scouts found Robinson playing for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro League in 1945. Povich writes that Rickey "warned Robinson of the insults and the racial slurs he would hear from both players and fans in every city in the league. 'I want a player with guts -- the guts not to fight back, to turn the other cheek,' Rickey told Robinson. ..."

Robinson, by all accounts, endured a great deal of abuse.

Robinson retired after the 1956 season with a lifetime batting average of .311 and the distinction of having stolen home an incredible 19 times. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, his first year of eligibility.

From studs to spuds

Thinking of baseball also reminds me of one of my favorite baseball stories -- involving a potato.

It occurred on Aug. 31, 1987, and is known as the "tater caper." Think you know the story? Well, let's make it the trivia question this week. Drop me an e-mail at kevindayhoff@gmail.com. Be sure to add Carroll Eagle in the subject line. Thanks.

Last week's question referenced the health care facility in Carroll that served as the predecessor to Carroll Hospital Center, the Carroll County War Memorial Medical Center. I asked if anyone knew when the center was dedicated.

Ruth Anderson and R.J. Teich were the only ones who answered correctly that the center was dedicated Nov. 11, 1952. Anderson is this week's winner of the famed Carroll Eagle mug.

For an extended version of this column, with even more on Jackie Robinson, go to explorecarroll.com. When he's not enjoying April showers, Kevin Dayhoff may be reached at kevindayhoff@gmail.com.

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