Los Angeles–Major League Baseball honored jackie robinson Every player, coach and umpire wore No. 42 on Wednesday to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the infielder who broke the game’s color barrier.
Robinson made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. He won Rookie of the Year honors and was a six-time All-Star and the 1949 National League MVP. He played in six World Series and won his only championship with the Dodgers in 1955.
Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, said, “Every player of color who now enjoys our great game owes a debt of gratitude to this man.”
Robinson made his professional debut in 1945 with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues. He was there five months before Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey interviewed him for a potential selection at Brooklyn’s International League farm club. Rickey wanted to ensure that Robinson could face racial hostility without reacting angrily.
“What he did was incredibly difficult in the most difficult circumstances you could ever imagine,” Kendrick said. “He had to go out there and deal not only with racial hatred, but when he walked across those lines he carried 21 million black people on his back. If he had failed, an entire race of people would have failed. That’s a huge pressure. How he did it with such grace, class and dignity is absolutely incredible. And no, we should never forget Jackie Robinson.”
los angeles dodgers And New York Mets Gathered around the center-field statue of Robinson stealing home at Dodger Stadium. were among the dodgers tyler glasnow, teoscar hernandez, Will Smith, roki sasaki, alex vesia And Will Klein. shohei ohtaniJoe, who has participated before, was not there before pitching against the Mets.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said, “A special day, especially for me as a Latino. If it wasn’t because of him I wouldn’t be here.” “Talk about dealing with pressure at this level, imagine what he went through back in the day.”
The Dodgers’ Dave Roberts, one of only two Black managers currently in the majors, told teams that Robinson would be proud of if they reflected his dream and vision of what equality and unity would look like.
“My plea is that we remember how we got here,” Roberts said.
New York Yankees second baseman jazz chisholm jr. He wore his pinstripe pants loose and blousy and rolled up at the knees, as did many players in the 1940s, including Robinson.
A video commemorating Robinson and narrated by former Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia was played on the stadium scoreboard before the team’s games. Los Angeles Angels.
“You look at the diversity in our game around the world now, and Jackie started opening those doors not only for black players but for Latin America as well,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “and now we have guys from all over the world playing it, and Jackie was the beginning of all that.”
In Pittsburgh, Pirates manager Don Kelly said, “It doesn’t feel like one day is enough to really give back to Jackie and what he meant to baseball and people.”
Robinson’s two granddaughters attended teams at Dodger Stadium, not far from Robinson’s adopted hometown of Pasadena. He was a four-sport star at Pasadena Junior College before attending UCLA, where the Georgia native was better known for football than baseball.
Last year, a historical marker honoring the Robinson family was unveiled at their former home in downtown Pasadena.
“We’re really carrying on the legacy now and it’s an incredible honor,” said granddaughter Ayo Robinson, whose father, David, is Robinson’s youngest son. “It’s a weight that feels good because it keeps you connected to something that’s so important. I think that legacy is as important today as it ever was.”
Robinson’s widow, Rachel, will turn 104 in July. She lives in New York and still visits the Jackie Robinson Museum.
Granddaughter Sonya Pankey Robinson, whose father was Jackie Robinson Jr., said, “She is the strong matriarch of our family, surrounded by love and intention and allowing her to live the life she wanted.”
Also present were scholarship recipients from the Jackie Robinson Foundation in Los Angeles.
For the first time in at least two decades, the percentage of Black players on Opening Day rosters increased this season. Major League Baseball says 6.8% of players on Opening Day rosters, injured lists and restricted lists were black, up from 6.2% at the start of the 2025 season and 6.0% at the start of 2024.
“He’s an icon,” milwaukee brewers Manager Pat Murphy said of Robinson. “To take this day and make it something special says a lot about the character of the game.”
