WHO KNEW!

When history is made, more often than not we tend to concentrate on the events that occurred and not what effects they produce behind the scenes. Case in point, Jackie Robinson and his breaking of the color barrier.

How many people really know who Jackie Robinson replaced at first base in 1947 for the Brooklyn Dodgers when they broke spring training camp and headed north to open the season?

On April 15, when the Dodgers broke camp, their lineup was pretty much settled, Jackie Robinson was the opening day first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first black player in Major League Baseball since 1884.

“Big Ed” as he was known was born on Monday, January 12, 1925, in Galveston, Texas. Stevens was 20 years old when he broke into the big leagues on August 9, 1945, with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the starting first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946, finishing second on the team in home runs and was looking forward to cementing his feet in the first base position for years to come.

Leaving spring training in Havana in 1947, Leo Durocher had penciled him in as their opening day starter, ahead of five other first baseman in the process. Then suddenly, his success was denied him, notoriety was not to be as Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey announced that Jackie Robinson, not Stevens would be their opening day first baseman. Not only was Stevens a part of the historic event, he witnessed Robinson breaking baseball’s color line, while seeing his own position disappear.

 

“I would like to say that I realized the magnitude of the situation and happily stepped aside, accepting my role as the sacrifice in this incredibly significant moment in history. But the truth is, I was a competitor, and I was agitated. The fact remained coming out of spring training the starting first base job was mine, and the rug had been ripped out from under me,” said Stevens in his 2009 autobiography, “Big” Ed Stevens - The Other Side of the Jackie Robinson Story.

Stevens, who passed away this year on July 30 at the age of 87 in Galveston, Texas, was more than a mere footnote in baseball’s most significant event.  

An important part of history, Ed Stevens totally ignored.

His stats were not impressive for his 6 years in the majors. From Brooklyn he went to Pittsburg to finish his career batting lifetime .252, with 28 home runs and 193 RBI’s. He was a good first baseman but retired at the age of 25 in 1950.

That’s all I wrote, folks!