Jackie Robinson made his MLB debut in 1947.
His official major league debut came on April 15, 1947, when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field. Robinson went hitless in three at-bats, but he reached base on a throwing error and scored the winning run in Brooklyn’s 5–3 victory. The game marked the breaking of MLB’s modern color line.
Robinson was 28 years old when he debuted, unusually old for a first-year major leaguer. The delay was not caused by a lack of ability; Black players had been excluded from organized major league baseball for decades. Before joining Brooklyn, Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro leagues and then spent 1946 with the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers’ minor-league affiliate.
A nearby date can cause confusion: Robinson appeared in a Dodgers exhibition game on April 11, 1947, but April 15 was his regular-season MLB debut. That date is now commemorated throughout baseball as Jackie Robinson Day, when players and other uniformed personnel honor his legacy by wearing number 42.