ONE DAY BEFORE JACKIE ROBINSON's DEBUT

4/14/47 — It’s the day before Jackie Robinson’s Major League debut, less than 24 hours before he would step onto Ebbets Field to showcase his athletic talent and initiate the integration of Major League Baseball. He must have had the weight of the world on his broad shoulders.

What might have been going through his mind that day? Perhaps his thoughts wandered back to his late-night conversations with his teammate and roommate, veteran outfielder Gene Benson, when they were part of a Negro Leagues All Stars barnstorming tour in Venezuela during the winter of 1945-46. On October 23, 1945, Robinson had signed his minor-league contract with the Dodgers organization (to play for the International League’s Montreal Royals), before heading south to Caracas for a couple of months on the tour.

At that signing, Branch Rickey must have intimated to Jackie that he would have a chance to play for the Major League ball club one day, because it has been reported that, while sharing a room with Benson on those nights in Venezuela, Robinson confided in his new friend that he was unsure of his future success in the Dodgers organization. In particular, he expressed doubts about his ability to succeed as a hitter, despite his stellar athletic career up to that point. After excelling as a star athlete in four varsity sports at UCLA (baseball, basketball, football and track), he had just come off a season in the Negro Leagues where he hit .387 as the shortstop for the Kansas City Monarchs.

Benson, a well-liked and highly respected contact hitter, took Robinson under his wing during their time together in South America. He taught his new friend the nuances of hitting a curveball (a skill Robinson had some trouble with as a Monarch, but eventually came to excel at in the majors). Just as importantly, Benson mentored his protege psychologically. He encouraged his roommate and eased his mind by assuring him that if he could hit Negro League pitching, then he’d definitely be successful with major league pitching. In fact, he affirmed that it would actually be easier than what he’d faced previously. As stated by Benson, the trick pitches and aggressive style common among Negro League pitchers were largely discouraged in the majors, so Jackie would have less to worry about. Jackie went on to hit .349 with the Royals, and after just one year of minor-league ball was signed to his fabled big-league contract. The rest is history, as they say, and Gene Benson contributed to it admirably.