Tuesday April 15, 2014 across Major
League Baseball is known as Jackie Robinson Day. A day dedicated to honoring
one of America’s greatest heroes and his contributions not only to the game but
also to his country. This day has been celebrated every season since its
inauguration in 2004 and for the past six years on April 15 every Major League
player and on field personnel will wear Robinson’s number, 42. In 1997 MLB
commissioner Bud Selig announced that number 42 would be retired in every ballpark.
Ken
Griffey Jr., an outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds at the time, called Bud
Selig in 2007 and requested that he be allowed to wear Robinson’s number 42 to
honor the 60th anniversary of Robinson breaking the color barrier.
Selig embraced the idea and invited all ballclubs to allow all players to wear
number 42 on the 15th.
Griffey Jr., felt that this was a way he could pay tribute the Robinson
and he was not alone.
There
is something special that happens for this one day in April. It is one of the
only times in the entire season that every team is unified to celebrate one of
the most influential Americans of all time. This is an unprecedented event in
not only baseball but also all professional sports. Many players today take for
granted the struggle that Robinson, and the men who followed him, underwent
just to play baseball.
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