Dodgers, Royals to wear Jackie Robinson uniforms to benefit Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

When the Dodgers play the Royals next weekend in Kansas City, the middle game of the series, on Saturday, August 13, both teams will wear throwback uniforms with a connection to Jackie Robinson, with proceeds benefitting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

From the museum’s press release:

The Royals will wear 1945 Kansas City Monarchs home uniforms, and the Dodgers will wear 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers away uniforms, both teams sporting jerseys that the legendary Jackie Robinson would have worn.

After the game, both teams will auction off jerseys, hats, batting helmets, and other game-worn items, with proceeds going to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

Robinson played for the Monarchs in 1945, hitting .375/.449/.600 in 34 known games in his prime at age 26, two years before he would debut with the Dodgers.

Here’s a look at the Monarchs uniforms for that August 13 game, a 4:10 p.m. PT start in Kansas City.

Links

Justin Klugh at Baseball Prospectus said that Vin Scully made every word count: “A broadcaster relates what’s happening, but a narrator can mine those archives of stirruped humanity to give empty moments meaning, turning pockets of dead air into more life for the rest of us.”

Eric Nusbaum at Slate called Scully “the most pure baseball fan in the world,” and noted how Scully’s sense of wonder and awe passed down to generations:

This week I have also realized that watching games with Scully has made me a better journalist and writer. He turned fleeting Dodgers like Chad Fonville and Omar Daal into fully fledged characters of my youth not just because they were on my favorite baseball team, but because through his eyes, I saw them as people, too. As a writer, I try to be empathetic. I try to stay open to the beauty and horror of the world. I try not to get cynical or bored by things I have no business being bored by.

Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic recapped Friday’s festivities honoring Scully, including this pregame quote from Dave Roberts: “One of the greatest, if not the greatest, Dodger of all time. He is the connection. He’s the connection, the fabric from the fans to the organization. I think that if you look at 60 years of Dodger baseball. Players change, teams are different. But he was the one constant…He was kind of the thread.”

Old friend Jesse Chavez, who pitched for the Dodgers in 2016, was traded by Atlanta to the Angels on Tuesday, joining his third team this season. Matt Monagan at MLB.com researched Chavez’s travels, and found that Chavez’s ten times traded are the most in MLB history. David Roth wrote about Chavez Friday at Defector, noting despite all the movement he’s still only pitched for nine major league teams. “Most of the teams that have employed Chavez have seen fit to employ him more than once,” Roth wrote.

I was a guest on the FnA podcast on AM 570 on Friday, talking with Adam Auslund about Vin Scully, the Dodgers’ trade deadline, and the series against the Padres.