jackie robinson is in my hall of famer collection

jackie robinson was never a los angeles dodger, but thankfully the dodger organization didn't leave him behind when they left brooklyn. one of my favorite things about baseball is its history and the easy links that today's game provides to the game of yesteryear, and the dodgers have a wealth of history that i devoured as a young fan. it didn't hurt to have vin scully telling dodger stories from the 1950's (and other decades) on broadcasts for the first forty-six years of my life. as you might expect, jackie robinson was a big part of the stories that i read and heard.

here is the card of jackie robinson that sits in my hall of famer collection:

great photo selection here with jackie's number 42 prominently on display.  here's the back:

it's a relic card from 2004 topps clubhouse collection as the back attests.  i received this card from wes as a result of selecting the dodgers in his final pack breaking hurrah.  it turned out to be a double, so it works nicely with this new mini-collection of mine (as a reminder, i "need" to have doubles of the dodgers (and vladimir guerrero) featured in this collection - one card for my team collection (or player collection, in the case of vladdy), and one for the hall of famer collection).

i can remember the first time i began to understand that before jackie there were no african-american ballplayers. i approached my dad and asked him if it were true that there was a time that dusty baker wouldn't have been able to play in the major leagues. i couldn't imagine the dodgers without dusty or reggie smith or bill north or any of the other players of color that were on the roster and in my card collection.  it was a bizarre concept that i frankly had trouble understanding, and it made me appreciate the accomplishments of jackie and his contemporaries even more.

obviously i never saw jackie play, having been born less than two years before he passed, but he has been one of my favorite players since i first learned about him breaking the color barrier. i consider one of the jewels of my collection to be his 1952 topps card, and i hope one day to add to it his 1948 leaf card as well as a cut auto card, but for this collection the card above will suffice.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425:

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relics

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32: