On April 18, 1946, George Shuba shook hands with his teammate Jackie Robinson. This was the first game for the future Hall of Famer Jackie, it was also his first homerun hit as a pro, and most importantly it was the first interracial handshake in professional baseball. George Shuba from Youngstown, Ohio, was of a Slovak descent and prayed in Slovak before his meals into old age. Now there is a bronze statue in Youngstown that commemorates this "Handshake for the Century".