Why Jackie Robinson Is Important

Favorite player but Rachel Robinson has a place in my heart as favorite wife of a ballplayer.

Jackie Robinson tribute, Giants in town, Trojan’s spring football & the economy on the rebound. All good today.

How many people can say they starred as themselves in a biographical movie of their own life, as Robinson did in The Jackie Robinson Story.

Robinson is the only player in Dodger history with more than 100 games played at each of 1B, 2B, 3B, and OF.

In his historical abstract and how (based on whatever defensive ratings there were using when that book was written) Robinson was superior fielder at every position he played.

Is Mitch Mustain.

On Jackie Robinson Day name the two other pitchers who were signed along with Jackie Robinson to play with him in Montreal.

NT

“Were there better baseball players than Jackie Robinson? Probably. Were there more important baseball players than Jackie Robinson? Who?”

When ESPN did their 50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th century, Costas voted for Jackie Robinson.

I think at Dodger Stadium Jackie’s #42 shouldn’t be a different color — blue — than the other retired numbers. Let other teams, who piggybacked the Dodgers’ original idea, make a distinction between their players and Jackie.

Everything else the same.

3 innings, 92 pitches, 8 strikeouts, 0 groundouts / 0 flyouts

The other out was on the bases (Iannetta was thrown out at 3B on a run-scoring hit). 5 runs and 4 walks allowed too.

…but am I the only person that thinks that the Mets attempts at laying claim to Jackie Robinson’s history is a bit disingenuous? Especially when they weren’t even in existence in 1947? I understand the argument that Jackie played in New York and his breaking the color barrier occurred there, but still, if any team has the right to claim and celebrate his legacy about spreading equality, it’s the Dodgers.

Nothing against Jackie, but the Dodgers were just as instrumental in breaking the color barrier as he was. Some team had to be willing take the chance of not only scouting, signing, dressing up and putting a black man in the starting lineup, but also choosing the right one to break the color, and supporting him whether he succeeded or failed.

 As a Dodger fan, I’m proud that my team was the one to break it and it reaffirms my allegiance to this organization. But it always breaks my heart when the celebration and dedications, such as the new rotunda at Citi Field, revolves around the Mets, with nary a word about the Dodgers, simply because the Mets are the sole New York, National League team. It’s almost as if Mitsubishi were to lay claim to building the first Model-T simply because one of it’s factories is closest to the original site that no longer existed with nary a word about Henry Ford.

I’m sorry if this is inappropriate, but it’s something that’s been nagging at me, especially on this date for years and I just had to get it off my chest.

about Jackie and Rachel Robinson:

If he didn’t have her, you know, I don’t know all the other things would have went astray. Because he had to have someone at nighttime to go home and lay his head on, you know, and Rachel was the right woman. And…she was the right woman. It couldn’t have been nobody else, but Rachel Robinson.

are wearing #42 tonight.