- Wendy Lewis
- Apr 22
- 4 min read
Hello everyone, welcome to Wendy Wednesdays. Last week was Jackie Robinson Day. A day that is celebrated as one of the most pivotal moments in our country’s history. On April 15, 1947, Baseball, America’s national pastime, changed the game and the country. The importance of that day transcended sports and society. Major League Baseball celebrates the day by having Jackie Robinson’s number, “42” worn by every player, coach and umpire. Also, the stadiums are a sea of “42” being worn and exhibited by thousands of fans.
I love Jackie Robinson Day. I will never forget the excitement and pride felt by so many of us at MLB on April 15, 2004, the day and year designated Jackie Robinson Day. Years later, April 15, 2009, it became a league-wide celebration, and the number was worn by all on that game day. I remember the on-field ceremonies, and my joy-filled tears.
More than the celebration of the day are the treasured experiences and lives impacted by those who were there. People who witnessed the game, listened to their radio stations or read about the game in the press. Ralph Moore, one of my dearest friends and colleagues has given me permission to share the journey of his family and the impact of that iconic day and time in our history. Ralph is the Founder & President of Ralph G. Moore & Associates (RGMA), the premier consulting firm for strategic development of business and supplier diversity. He is the son of Bill Moore, and this is their story of “Why Jackie Robinson Day Matters”.
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Why Attending the First Jackie Robinson Day Meant So Much to Me
By Ralph Moore
My father, Bill Moore, was born in 1900 and was 49 years old when I was born in 1949. He had a tough life. He dropped out of school as a third grader to help his family work as sharecroppers on a farm. At 14, he ran away from the farm and tried to join the US Army to fight in WWI, but he was too young. As a young man, he worked a series of jobs and during the crippling depression my father would join the waves of Black men who would hop a moving freight train to travel from one city to another in search of work. In the late 1930s, Bill Moore tried becoming an entrepreneur and agreed to open an ice cream shop with a friend. Unfortunately, the day after my father signed the lease and bought equipment, his friend bailed out, leaving him short of the funds needed to open the store. He lost his entire savings of $800 ($12,000 in 2026 dollars)
When Germany started WWII in 1939, my father tried to enlist in the Army again, but now he was too old and they turned him down. I still have his enlistment application where he changed his birth year, to no avail. In December of 1941, Bill Moore got his first job that paid benefits after thousands of railroaders left their jobs and enlisted to fight in the war. He got a job at the Illinois Central Railroad rail yards as an overnight laborer. His job and hours remained the same for 23 years until he retired in the summer of 1964.
Bill Moore was a hardworking man who loved four things. His family, his community, the blues, and baseball. The only topic that would get my father excited was baseball, especially the Negro League teams and the Brooklyn Dodgers. He loved to tell stories about the Negro League players and how they would put on a show at the Negro League All-Star games. I share this background so you can understand that despite having a rough life, during the ten years that Jackie Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Bill Moore was one of the happiest men in America. When "Jackie" (Black men called him "Jackie" because he was considered family) came to Chicago in the summer of 1947 for the first time (and every game he played in Chicago), thousands of Black men, including my father, gathered at Wrigley Field in white shirts and ties to mark the event's significance. Because he worked nights, my father attended most of the games Jackie played at Wrigley Field (all day games). Sometimes he would take me and my brother, which is why I also love baseball.
On September 28, 1955, dad was in the stands at Yankee Stadium for the first game of the Dodgers/Yankees world series, and Jackie stole home plate. Many fans say that play is one of the most exciting moments in world series history. Not only did my dad agree with that assessment, over the years he reenacted that play with hand gestures and sound effects to my brother and me many, many times. And each time, we would act as if it were the first time we had ever heard the story.
I give you this background so you can understand what Jackie Robinson meant to my father. I was 15 when he died in 1964, so I never had the opportunity to take him to a ball game. So, you see, having the opportunity to attend the first Jackie Robinson Day at Dodger Stadium on April 15, 2004, was a day full of memories, and I gave thanks to God for being able to represent my dad's spirit at that game. I am certain that on the first Jackie Robinson Day, Bill Moore was in heaven enjoying the game and telling the angels the story (again) how Jackie Robinson stole home against the Yankees in 1955.
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Thank you again Ralph for sharing such a wonderful and enlightening story. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.
Happy Jackie Robinson Day every year!
Take care and be well,
Wendy Lewis, Founder and CEO Wendy Lewis LLC. theallyshift.com
