by Mark Jent
Jackie Robinson made his debut 79 years ago today – April 15, 1947. The most significant moment in baseball history was a mere footnote in the papers the next day, but now nearly eight decades later it is celebrated every April 15th as Jackie Robinson Day in ballparks across the country.
Today there are only two Brooklyn Dodgers left who can claim that they were teammates with Jack Roosevelt Robinson – Sandy Koufax (90) and Bob Aspromonte (87). They were both young boys when he made his debut in ‘47, but both suited up with Jackie at the tail end of his career. Ironically, both Koufax and Aspromonte grew up in Brooklyn and went to Lafayette High School.
As I thought about the calendar turning over to another April 15th, I called Mr. Bob yesterday to talk about his memories of playing ball with Jackie. (Here is a story I wrote a few years ago about our friendship.) He proceeded to share the story of his first day in the big leagues. In 1956 he had just graduated high school at 18 years old and was signed to a $3,000 contract by his hometown Dodgers.
“When I got to the ballpark, I was met by Manager Walter Aston in the dugout who instructed me to go take some grounders,” said Aspromonte. “I look up and I’m running towards Gil Hodges, PeeWee Reese and Jackie Robinson taking infield practice. I could not believe what was happening.”
For Aspromonte this was a field of dreams before there was ever a cornfield in Iowa. His dad took him and his brothers to many games at Ebbets Field over the years. His formative years were watching the Boys of Summer dominate the National League and here he was surrounded by the legends he adored.
“So I took a few ground balls and then Jackie took a look at my glove and said, ‘Bobby, that’s an outfielder’s glove you’ve got there, you need an infielder’s glove, here use mine.’ After we finished, I took it off to give it back to him and he said, ‘No Bobby, you keep that glove, it’s yours now.’ It was incredible,” said Aspromonte in our phone call last night.
That was Mr. Bob’s first day as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball club.
Fast forward to September 17th when he made his major league debut against the St. Louis Cardinals. He entered the game as a pinch hitter for Sandy Amoros in the bottom of the 8th inning and struck out on four pitches against Don Liddle. Alston sent in Gino Cimoli to play LF in the top of the 9th. That would be Aspromonte’s lone at bat and the only game he ever played at Ebbets Field. The outcome of his plate appearance might not have been memorable, but today as Major League Baseball celebrates Jackie Robinson debut, Mr. Bob Aspromonte is in rarified air to be able to claim that 42 played in his major league debut. It is something he still talks about with great delight. The following week Jackie would play his final regular season game.
(In 1957 Aspromonte spent the entire season in the minors, then the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958. He would play for the Dodgers in 1960-61 and had a long career that spanned to 1971.)
After the Dodgers fell to the Yankees 4 games to 3 in the 1956 World Series, the ballclub went to Japan on a Goodwill Tour. Still only 18 years old, Aspromonte was thrilled to be invited to join the team on the tour for what he calls an incredible experience. They spent a month traveling around to different ballparks playing Japanese teams in front of sold out crowds.
He remembers the fans were enamored with Jackie Robinson. Mr. Bob says they were enthusiastic about seeing him both on and off the field. At 37 years old, Robinson’s wheels weren’t what they used to be, but that didn’t stop him from putting on a show on the basepaths as he stole bases with his signature feet first slide. The picture below of Jackie sliding into home is from Mr. Bob’s photo album that the hosts presented to the team at the end of the tour.
A few minutes after our phone call ended last night, Mr. Bob calls me back with one more story that I’ve never heard before.
“A remarkable thing from that trip is from a day that the whole team and their wives were out shopping together. We went into his fancy China shop and I made a comment about how much my Mom loved to cook and how I wished I could get her some dishes,” said Aspromonte. “Before I knew it, Rachel and Jackie had bought my mom a 120 piece China set and shipped it back home to her in Brooklyn. I could not have afforded that at 18 years old. That was just who they were.”
Six weeks after the team returned from the trip, Jackie retired. Although the stats didn’t go on the back of his baseball card, the games on the Japan Goodwill Tour would be his last. When I asked Mr. Bob, if he knew the end of Jackie’s playing days were near he said “We had a feeling it might be, but nothing was said. It really hit me hard when the announcement came out because he was capable of still playing, but he had other things he wanted to do.”
In the coming years Jackie and Mr. Bob would run into each other on occasion during special events and ceremonies. He fondly recalled how Jackie was always kind and gracious.
Back to the glove…where is it you ask? Well a few decades passed and a guy by the name of Tommy Lasorda asked Mr. Bob if he could borrow it for a display in a museum. Having known him for many years he trusted him and gladly said yes.
“Would you believe that I never saw that glove again!” he said laughing.
Here is a video I captured of him telling the story on one of our visits.
*To clarify, there are four Brooklyn Dodgers left – Koufax, Aspromonte, Jim Gentile and Fred Kipp. The latter two made their debut in 1957 after Jackie had retired
Other Simply A Fan stories about Jackie Robinson.
- More Than 42 (July 2018)
- 42 Turns 100 (January 2019)
- Where Jackie Stood (April 2020)
- 75 years Ago (March 2021)
- Missing Jackie (February 2022)
- If These Steps Could Talk (April 2024)
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