Did you see Jackie Robinson Hit that Ball?

The lead off batter, #42, Tony Gwynn Jr. Batting 2^nd, #42, Jamey Carroll. Hitting 3^rd, #42, Andre Ethier. It’s about this time when a 7 year old boy sitting with his dad at Dodger Stadium points out that Ethier doesn’t wear number 42. Any kid who loves the Dodgers knows that Ethier wears number 16. As we all know and hopefully the boy’s father will point out to him, on this day, everyone will wear number 42. Now if the kid is a real baseball fanatic, he may say something like, “are they doing it for Mariano Rivera?” The father may laugh and say, “Good guess but everyone in MLB is wearing number 42 for Jackie Robinson.” And the kid may ask, “Dad, who is Jackie Robinson?” The father could respond with many things. He was the first African American to play in the Major Leagues in the modern era. He was a Hall of Fame 2^nd baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers. (Pause for the kid to ask, “the Dodgers played in Brooklyn?”) He was a 4 star athlete at UCLA. But the best answer the father can give is, “Jackie Robinson was the most important figure in baseball history and maybe in all of American team sports.”

Before Martin Luther King Jr. had his dream and before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus, there was Jackie Robinson, overcoming and overlooking a tremendous amount of racism and persecution throughout his Hall of Fame career. It was he, not Satchel Paige or Josh Gibson, who got the call from Brooklyn Dodgers President and GM Branch Rickey, mainly because, according to Rickey, “Jackie was the right man for the job.” It was Rickey’s vision that the first man to break the color barrier not only be talented but be courageous enough to turn the other cheek. Robinson signed with the Dodgers in the fall of 1945 and reported to Montreal, the Dodgers farm club, to play in 1946. After a year in which he led the minor leagues in batting, he made his debut with the big club on opening day 1947, much to the dismay of the rest of the league as well as members of his own team. Yes, racism was everywhere. Slurs made from opposing teams, pitchers trying to hit him, and getting spiked any chance the other players had. Death threats from fans and other chaos led to a moment in Cincinnati, where the crowd was so intense with hatred towards Robinson, that Dodgers shortstop Pee Wee Reese went over to Jackie and simply put his arm around him. That was a gesture that goes unmentioned by most, yet a white man comforting a black man back in the late 1940’s should be remembered forever. Jackie would go on to win MLB’s first Rookie of the Year Award, an award now named after him.

It was 1949 when Jackie was finally allowed to fight back. Given the green light from Branch Rickey to no longer turn the other cheek, he exploded to the tune of batting .342 with 124 RBIs and swiping 37 bases on his way to winning the league’s MVP award. Jackie was not just baseball’s most noticeable player; he was the game’s most exciting player and one of the best. In all, Jackie helped the Dodgers to 6 World Series appearances and one championship before retiring after the 1956 season, never getting to play for the crowd in Los Angeles. Robinson was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1967 after a prolific 10-year baseball career. He continued to fight the good fight for the rest of his life. During the 1972 World Series, Jackie threw out the first pitch, but not before he professed his dream to see African Americans as managers and GMs in the Major Leagues. He died less than 2 weeks after due to diabetes. His dream was realized in 1975 when Frank Robinson, no relation, became the first African American to manage in the Major Leagues.

Since his passing, Jackie has been recognized in many ways. In 1997, on the 50^th anniversary of his debut, commissioner Bud Selig announced that the #42 jersey would be retired throughout baseball, never to be given to any player again. It is still worn by Mariano Rivera, who had worn #42 at the time of this announcement. Robinson was named to MLB’s All Century team as the 2^nd baseman, and was honored in Time magazine’s list of the “100 most influential people of the 20^th century.” It is because of him that we celebrate Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr. Perhaps Jackie Robinson contributed to the fact that men like Jesse Jackson and Colin Powell are also recognized.

Baseball is a numbers game. No other sport has numbers that are as remembered, revered and celebrated. We all know what .406 means. We all know what 56 means. Despite Barry Bonds’ homeruns, we still recognize in many ways what 755 originally meant. Now we know what 42 means. Some may even know 4/15/47. We know this because Jackie Roosevelt Robinson had the courage to take on racism and play the game that he loved. “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” ~JRR