The Final 9

By DAVE ANDERSON

When Jackie Robinson was on the Hall of Fame ballot in 1962, he requested that the voters among the Baseball Writers Association of America judge him only as a player. He didn’t want his social significance as the modern major leagues’ first black player to be considered. Vote for him — or don’t vote for him — on his merits as a player, as all the other Hall of Famers from Babe Ruth and Cy Young had been measured.

When he was elected, the words on his bronze plaque at Cooperstown reflected his wishes.

Those words began, “Leading N.L. Batter in 1949,” and followed with his fielding and stolen base statistics, and then “Most Valuable Player in 1949. Lifetime Batting Average .311,” before concluding with more fielding statistics.

Nice numbers. Hall of Fame numbers. But over his 10 seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie Robinson was more than numbers. Much more. To baseball and to America. And on Wednesday, a new plaque with new words was unveiled by his widow, Rachel Robinson, and their daughter Sharon at a ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y.

A Fine Piece of Editing in Cooperstown....