WORCESTER—This city has given birth to, and played host to, many of our nation’s most transformative figures, both in the world of sports and the world in general.
George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, John Adams, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Frances Perkins, etc. They have all lived here or visited here.
Then there is Jackie Robinson, who transformed both sports and the country as a whole as the man who broke baseball’s color barrier. He was in town at least once, on Oct. 31, 1970, but the visit was related to football, not baseball.
Robinson’s younger son, David, was attending Phillips Exeter Academy and that school was here to play football against Worcester Academy at Gaskill Field.
There is a picture of Jackie Robinson and his wife, Rachel, sitting on wooden bleachers at the field. The Hall of Famer has turned, probably having heard his name called, while his wife watches the action on the field.
Although it was a football game, there was a Major League Baseball connection, although one that would not be realized for decades. One of the spectators at the game was J.P. Ricciardi, future general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Ricciardi’s father, John, had two jobs and one of them was at Worcester Academy. The Ricciardis were frequent visitors to Gaskill Field on football days.
“One Saturday,” J.P. Ricciardi remembered, “we were outside by the field house and my dad pulled me aside. He said, ‘Do you see that guy over there? Do you know who he is?’ I didn’t know and he told me it was Jackie Robinson.”
J.P. Ricciardi had just turned 11 — Little League age — but he was already well aware of who Jackie Robinson was. His reaction was simple — “Wow.”
John Ricciardi suggested his son walk over and introduce himself to the great ex-Dodger, and he did.
“He was just great,” J.P. Ricciardi remembered. “He asked me what my name was and if I liked baseball, if I played baseball. He told me he was there to watch his son play football, then asked me if I wanted him to sign something.”
Ricciardi located a paper roster but could not find a pen. So, Robinson signed in pencil. Ricciardi still has the autographed roster. He said the signature has held up well through the years but he’d like to find a way to make sure it gets preserved as time goes on.
For the record, Exeter won the game, 27-13. David Robinson is not listed in the box score as having played for his school but was just a freshman at the time. It could be that the Robinsons drove up from their home in Stamford, Conn. just to connect with their son.
At the time of his visit here, Jackie Robinson’s health was slipping. He had suffered a heart attack two years earlier and had diabetes. He died almost two years to the day after his trip to Worcester Academy.
Robinson was just 53.
Rachel Robinson is 102. She has had a career in medicine as a nurse and professor. She also has established several charitable foundations and received multiple humanitarian awards, including being honored by Major League Baseball.
Ricciardi met her subsequent to the football game.
“I ran into his wife later,” he recalled. “It was maybe 10 or 12 years ago and told her the story, how I was just a little kid and your husband took the time to talk to me and there was no one around.
“She said that he loved kids and from that day on, I told her, I was a Jackie Robinson fan.”
The picture from that football game shows the Robinsons sitting in the Gaskill Field bleachers, just parents watching their son’s school in action. Nobody seems to be too excited about it their presence.
“People just let him be himself,” Ricciardi said. “That’s the way it was. Nobody bothered him. He was just a dad watching his son play some football.”
At least on that particular cloudy, final day of October 1970 at Gaskill Field.
Bill Ballou covered the Red Sox for the Worcester Telegram from 1997 through 2018. He has covered pro hockey in Worcester since 1994 and currently does a weekly column for the Worcester Red Sox. Ballou can be reached at vetgoalie@aol.com
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