Just realized it's Jackie Robinson Day!

[flvegan]

Watching the Marlins, noticed everyone with the 42. Sure enough, it is today.



When players and fans gather at 15 Major League ballparks today, with every uniform on the field bearing the same No. 42 and ceremonies at new Citi Field leading the annual celebration of one of America's true heroes, the message will be said without a word:

All of our lives have been touched by Jackie Robinson.

On the 62nd anniversary of the day he crossed the color barrier in baseball and led millions of others to break through it not only in the sport but across American society, Robinson's legacy lives on in his credo: "A life is not important, except for the impact it has on other lives."

Of course, some lives have been touched more directly than others.

<snip>

Today, every Major Leaguer on the field will have the chance to be associated with these scholars.

This year's main celebration of Robinson putting on a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform in a regular-season game for the first time, thus integrating MLB forever, is being hosted at Citi Field, the new home of the Mets. There will be ceremonies in all the other 14 ballparks across the nation as well.

Festivities in New York will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET with the official dedication of Citi Field's Jackie Robinson Rotunda, which replicates the famous entry to Ebbets Field.

Bob DuPuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer, will represent Commissioner Bud Selig at the Rotunda dedication and the evening ceremony at Citi Field before the Mets play the Padres. He'll be joined by Rachel Robinson, New York Gov. David Paterson, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Fred Wilpon, the owner of the Mets, who grew up in Brooklyn as a devoted Dodgers fan and has long admired Robinson.

The idea of "unretiring" Robinson's number belongs to Ken Griffey Jr., back with the Mariners this season. Two years ago with the Reds, Griffey personally petitioned the Commissioner for the opportunity to wear it, and this year Commissioner Selig made the request that all uniformed personnel do the honors.

It's another way to show respect to the man whose legacy is so strong that the foundation that bears his name is helping not by the individual life, but by the generation.

"We decided instead of having a building named or a street named for him, we'd start an active organization that would support the education of minority youngsters," Robinson said at the annual Networking Weekend last month. "That way, they'd be able to fulfill all of their dreams and also become leaders in various communities."

Through that effort and the unique legacy he leaves on baseball, Jackie Robinson touches more and more lives every year.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090414&content_id=4268616&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[Gemini Cat]

1. Thanks for remembering.

Jackie Robinson will live on in my heart and soul forever.

[madinmaryland]

2. A true American hero.

Thank you flvegan for reminding us in this forum what a real pioneer is and what courage it takes to break a racist barrier.

I'm sorry, but I can't recommend in this forum.

[Auggie]

3. Here's remembering Larry Doby as well.

From wiki:

A native of Camden, South Carolina, he was the second black player to play in the modern major leagues and the first to do so in the American League. Doby was signed by the Cleveland Indians by their owner Bill Veeck in 1947, eleven weeks after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the National League.

LINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Doby