On this day in 1947, baseball changed when Jackie Robinson opened the season playing first base with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson turned into one of the key players in those Dodgers’ teams that won the NL pennant in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955 and 1956. The Dodgers finally beat the Yankees in the 1955 World Series. Along t he way, he won the 1949 National League MVP.
Before he broke with Brooklyn, Robinson and his teammates spent spring training in Cuba in 1947. It gave many Cuban fans a chance to see the man that would open the door for so many players from the island.