Those Dodgers, not surprisingly, remain her favorite team, a fact that became apparent two summers ago as she and Coleman walked through a Saratoga Race Course shedrow.
"She'd become friendly with trainer Nick Zito," Coleman said. "And one of Nick's horses at the time was Bellamy Road, who was owned by George Steinbrenner. As we passed his stall, the horse stuck his head out and nipped Rachel.
"She said, 'Fifty years later, and the Yankees are still trying to bite me.' "
Robinson's commitment remains an all-consuming one. Even on the day when this nation stood still in grief and fear, she was moving toward her goal.
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, she and Dorothy Reese, the widow of Jackie Robinson's teammate and friend Pee Wee Reese, were in New York's City Hall. They were there to choose one of five bronze sculptures commemorating the now-famous occasion when, in an effort to quell the uproar about baseball's integration, the Kentucky-born Reese laid an arm around Robinson's shoulder.
They heard the first airplane hit the World Trade Center tower just blocks away, and concerned city officials began to move them from place to place, seeking a secure shelter for these two baseball widows.
"Finally, she had had enough," Coleman recalled. "She excused herself and, even though she was almost 80 at the time, walked by herself all the way back to her apartment on the Upper East Side."
Contact staff writer Frank Fitzpatrick at 215-854-5068 or ffitzpatrick@phillynews.com.
