(1919–72), US baseball player; full name Jack Roosevelt Robinson. Joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, he became the first modern-era black player in the major leagues (baseball was briefly desegregated in the 1880s). In 1949, he led the National League with a .342 batting average and was named the league's Most Valuable Player. He retired in 1957. Baseball Hall of Fame (1962).