While April 15, 1947 was the official debut of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier of Major League baseball, the future Hall of Famer and civil rights icon actually made his “unofficial” debut four days earlier with the Brooklyn Dodgers during an exhibition game against the New York Yankees.  

     Offered is this extremely rare program from that exhibition game between the Yankees and Dodgers at Ebbets Field on April 11, 1947. The front of the program says “1946” in red with a circular image of a Dodger sliding into home plate with an umpire giving the “safe” sign. “BROOKLYN” is in small-type blue with “DODGERS” in large-type red and “EBBETS FIELD” in blue. This program style was re-used for this exhibition game with the added insert of the Yankees and Dodgers lineups – Dodgers’ lineup that included Jackie Robinson. Robinson’s name is printed as a substitute and his number “42” has been hand written under “36 Stevens” in the lineup. This scored program is in very delicate condition with many of the pages loose from the staples on the side. A wonderful piece of history from baseball’s past.