Jackie Robinson was remembered across Major League Baseball Monday as part of the league’s annual “Jackie Robinson Day” celebrations. Robinson broke baseball’s “color barrier” with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. The league has dedicated every April 15 since 2004 as a day when each uniformed player and coach wears Robinson’s number 42.
Each year brings a new layer of remembrance to Robinson’s legacy, and 2024 has proven to be no different. In Los Angeles, a statue of a sliding Robinson sits outside Dodger Stadium. Players from the Dodgers and Washington Nationals gathered around the statue in the stadium’s center field plaza Monday afternoon prior to their game.
The Nationals and Dodgers are gathered at the statue pregame. Dave Martinez and Dave Roberts just finished speaking.
Cool moment. pic.twitter.com/EOAJIqDmkq
— Andrew Golden (@andrewcgolden) April 15, 2024
It isn’t the first year Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and his counterpart have spoken to the group on the occasion of Jackie Robinson day. Each year brings a new twist on the baseball history lesson to a new group of players in Los Angeles.
Dave Roberts says they’ve started a “cool tradition” of having players from both teams meet at the Jackie Robinson statue on Jackie Robinson Day. pic.twitter.com/P6qkBvcU9W
— Vincent Samperio (@vincesince91) April 15, 2024
Another new twist this year: A special tribute video titled “Pasadena Fields” was scheduled to air in all ballparks on Monday. The video also was also featured on the league’s official website, social platforms, and MLB.tv.
MLB retired Robinson’s number in every ballpark in 1997. Number 42 is still the only universally retired number across the league. The number was eventually “grandfathered out” until the final player to wear the number before its universal retirement — Yankees closer Mariano Rivera — had retired himself in 2013.
Players and teams in different MLB cities embraced their own slice of Robinson’s historical legacy on Monday:
Tonight’s first pitch was thrown out by Gail Quarles, daughter of pioneer Hank Mason, the first Black pitcher to pitch in the major leagues for the Phillies in 1958 pic.twitter.com/L0v9RHuTnB
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 15, 2024
Athletic apparel manufacturer Nike, the exclusive provider of MLB jerseys, issued a new version of its Air Max 1 shoe Monday to honor Robinson.
According to Complex, the Air Max 1 ’86 retails for $150 and features “a Brooklyn Dodgers-esque color scheme. The upper features a combination of blue suede and nubuck panels that’s offset by a grey suede mudguard. The shoe also comes with a special ’42’ diamond patch on the tongue and a gold lacelock attached to the shoelaces. Rounding out the look is a gum brown outsole.”
In Manhattan, MLB hosted a volunteer event at the Jackie Robinson Museum in collaboration with Foster Love. Volunteers, comprised of MLB Central Office employees, assembled gift boxes and sweet cases for donation to children at a local foster care agency.
In Queens, the Mets celebrated Jackie Robinson Day with their second-annual Black Legacy Game honoring former Black players and Jackie Robinson throughout the day. The team also hosted a Black Legacy panel featuring rappers and recording artists DJ Webstar & Mims to discuss the impact of Jackie Robinson’s legacy on the world of rap.
David Robinson, Jackie’s son, threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Mets’ game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, caught by Butch Huskey. Rachel Robinson, Jackie’s 101-year-old wife, was also scheduled to be in attendance for the game and presented with flowers from Mookie Wilson and manager Carlos Mendoza, as well as a special video tribute.
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