Celebrating Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, Nolan Ryan on their birthdays
For plenty of baseball fans, Jan. 31 isn't a date worth circling on the calendar. Stuck in that lousy, seemingly endless stretch of winter between Hot Stove season and the start of spring training, it seems like just another day without baseball, really.
Still, while there aren't any games to look forward to, Jan. 31 is a day worth celebrating if you're at all partial to baseball history.
After all, 97 years ago to the day, in a south Georgia town with less than 2,000 constituents, one of the most important and seminal figures in baseball history was born. Before turning 30, Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson would make history as the first African-American to play Major League Baseball in the modern era, dismantling the game's longstanding commitment to segregation with his immense talents and unwavering grace.
Robinson isn't the only baseball icon born on this day, though. On Jan. 31, 1931, another racial pioneer - and the most enduring figure in Chicago Cubs history - was born, too. At just 22 years old, Ernest "Ernie" Banks became the first black ballplayer to ply his trade on the north side of Chicago, earning legions of fans with power and a smile so prodigious he would eventually be known as "Mr. Cub." Throughout his 19-year tenure with the club, Banks earned two National League MVP awards and 11 All-Star appearances while also becoming (at the time) the ninth player to join the illustrious 500-home run club.
There can't be another Hall of Fame member with a Jan. 31 birthday, though, right? Wrong. On this day 69 years ago, the most imposing starter of the modern era was born in Refugio, Texas, about 353 miles south of Arlington - home of the Rangers - and a two-and-a-half hour drive to Houston. Blessed with a legendary fastball and equally impressive durability, Lynn Nolan Ryan spent 27 seasons - nearly half of them in the Lone Star State - blowing opponents away. Over nearly three decades in the majors, Ryan racked up 5,714 strikeouts - easily the most in history - and 324 victories before being inducted into Cooperstown on his first try in 1999.
