'Granddaddy had to approve the contract' - Kentuckian Ben Chandler reflects on his grandfather's role in Jackie Robinson story

Associated Press

This week marks the 75^th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in major league baseball.

Former Kentucky Congressman Ben Chandler's grandfather, A.B. "Happy" Chandler was MLB commissioner in 1947 when Jackie traded a Negro Leagues jersey for a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform and changed sports history forever.

In 2016, right about the time Ken Burns released his
documentary on Jackie, WUKY's Alan Lytle sat down with Ben to talk about and hear the historic tale from Happy himself; audio courtesy of the
Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History in the UK Libraries.