Five days after Jackie Robinson was penciled into the starting lineup of a major league baseball team, he became the first African-American player to hit a home run. The latter moment doesn’t get nearly the attention of the former, but it’s still a major milestone in baseball history. Now, one of only a small number of surviving ticket stubs from that afternoon is on the auction block.
Heritage Auctions is offering one of the two stubs from the Giants-Dodgers game at Ebbets Field on April 18, 1947 in its current auction. Labeled Authentic by PSA, the stub dates to the day in which Robinson took Giants pitcher Dave Koslo deep in the third inning for a solo home run.
While the attendance from that day is listed at over 37,000, surviving tickets are rare.
The home run was one of few bring spots in a 10-4 Giants win that saw Burt Shotton take over for Leo Durocher as the Dodgers manager following Durocher’s year long suspension for an “accumulation of unpleasant incidents” which included accusations that he associated with gamblers.
Robinson batted second and played first base for the Dodgers on the day of his first major league homer. A photo taken that day shows teammate Tommy Tatum shaking Robinson’s hand while catcher Clint Courtney looks on.
The home run came a year to the day after Robinson hit a homer that wouldn’t really become famous until much later. Robinson was playing for the minor league Montreal Royals when his blast left the yard for his first professional homer. He he was greeted with a handshake by teammate George Shuba. The photo of a white player shaking hands with a black teammate hung in Shuba’s home until he died and became the subject of numerous news stories. A sculpture of the moment was dedicated in 2021 in Shuba’s hometown of Youngstown, OH.
Bidding for the ticket stub runs through May 17.
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