Jackie Robinson Day features panel discussion, Dodger Stadium ceremonies to honor No. 42
The Dodgers have scheduled a series of events Friday to honor the 64th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier.
They’ll start off the day with 10 current and former Dodgers holding a panel discussion on Robinson’s effect on baseball and society at Crenshaw High School. Former Robinson teammate Don Newcombe, now a special advisor to Frank McCourt, will moderate the panel.
Also scheduled to appear at the Crenshaw assembly are Tommy Davis, Maury Wills, Lou Johnson and current Dodgers Matt Kemp, James Loney, Marcus Thames, Tony Gwynn Jr., Xavier Paul, and minor leaguer and Crenshaw alum Trayvon Robinson. It is closed to the public.
The Dodgers have also donated tickets to the entire Crenshaw student body for their game June 13 against the Reds.
"The Dodgers and Jackie Robinson have been a team for so many years and they remain a team today,’’ Newcombe said in a statement. "I look forward to helping the next generation of Americans learn all about who Jackie was and how much he means to so many people.’’
All Dodger players and coaches, like all teams in baseball, will wear Robinson’s No. 42. His number has been retired by baseball.
"Each year, Jackie Robinson Day is an occasion for us to pause and reflect on the game's proudest and most powerful moment,’’ Commissioner Bud Selig in a statement. "Jackie's legacy is as strong and vibrant as ever throughout Major League Baseball. I am proud that the No. 42, which has come to stand for Jackie's courage and grace, will again be worn in honor of our game's greatest pioneer.’’
The Dodgers also plan to honor Robinson before Friday’s game against the Cardinals. The Dodgers Dream Foundation charity offers 42 scholarships and this year’s 42 scholars will join Newcombe on the field in a pregame tribute.
Robinson attended Pasadena’s Muir High School, Pasadena Junior College and UCLA.
-- Steve Dilbeck
Photo: Frank Robinson, Sweet Lou Johnson, Tommy Davis and Kareem Abdul Jabbar attend ceremonies celebrating Jackie Robinson Day moments before the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks played at Dodger Stadium April 15, 2010. Credit: Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times
what a total crock, to insult the great Jackie by invoking his legend & memory in any way at all w/this pitiful bunch of losers who currently comprise this once-proud organiza-shun, & that includes especially the top-tier, i.e., the primary "duds", the owner(s), all the way down to the roster's 25th man!!!
Posted by: SendTheseBumsBackToBrooklyn | 04/15/2011 at 08:41 AM
Hi Steve, Here's a story that I would love to see you explore: Is the Dodger season over? I don't think it is out of the realm of possibility? As of today, April 15th, the Dodgers are five games out of first, and with the way the Rockies have exploded out of the gate at 10-2, the fact that they just went 7-1 on the road which suggests their win streak is not an aberration but a sign of a team that could run away with the division, the Giants hanging around at .500 but we know that they will be a factor in all of this before it is over and clearly will be fighting for first if not second, add to that the fact that the Dodger pitching does not appear to be anything remotely resembling what it appeared on paper when Colletti secured it almost immediately over the off-season (will Garland and Padilla really make a major difference when they return?), the fact that our offense is absolutely non-existent with no OBP/no RISP/no power and night in and night out struggling just to produce 3 runs or 4......is it POSSIBLE that the 2011 Los Angeles Dodgers are finitio? Can we put a fork in 'em? It is a concept that has significant ramifications for the organization, especially now. I would love to see a Blog entry posing this question. C'mon Steve, give it to us! Do you agree?
Posted by: Dodger Tony | 04/15/2011 at 11:18 AM
What Jackie Robinson accomplished in his life cannot be overstated. He was, and always will be, a national hero! He’s the only person who was truly “bigger than the game.” Given his demonstrated personal integrity and triumph over ignorance, the fact that even Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “If there was no Jackie, there would have been no Martin” and the consideration that we could virtually classify the country into two time periods, before Jackie Robinson and after Jackie Robinson, so mammoth was his impact, a national holiday should be created in his honor.
When we consider his baseball accomplishments, let’s not forget that due to the prior disgraceful banning of blacks in major league baseball, he didn’t even start in the majors until he was 28 years old. Imagine if he was signed like some 17 and 18 year olds, where his records would have been? Still, with his hands veritably tied, enduring dangers and inhuman degradations on public fields around the country, he was still the first Rookie of the Year, led the majors in hitting in 1949 and was selected as Most Valuable Player, played and excelled in several positions, revolutionized the game with his electrifying base running and still, incredibly, worked part-time jobs, including selling appliances in a department store, to support his family.
His history also includes being the first athlete at UCLA to win varsity letters in four sports, baseball, basketball, football and track. In 1941 he was named to the All-American football team.
Finally, consider his final words, which he wrote and which appear as his epitaph: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Unselfish to the end!
Posted by: veracity3648 | 04/15/2011 at 11:27 AM
Let's all put aside bickering for a night to salute Jackie -- and also to salute Rachel Robinson, who risked her own life in the stands as much as he did on the field to help him get through what he endured. She's continued his work in his name, with the Jackie Robinson Foundation, for many decades since he passed away.
http://www.squidoo.com/jackierobinson
Posted by: Blueeyedgal | 04/15/2011 at 12:08 PM
The way Jackie played, overcome barriers in life and handled himself should be an inspiration to everyone. No cry of being a victim, just facing all obstacles in front of him and overcoming them. A true man.
Posted by: StanL | 04/15/2011 at 12:58 PM
Jackie Robinson is a baseball saint.
Posted by: 68elcamino427 | 04/15/2011 at 02:48 PM
If anyone is at the game tonight who reads this, please start a chant in the top of the 4th inning: "Go away Frank" And do this each and every home game. All season.
Hope you're not going (I'm not), but just in case you are.
And if you see frank, boo the heck out of him for S'58 and the rest of us. In his face if you're close enough!
Posted by: alanw19 | 04/15/2011 at 02:52 PM
If there is 'no crying in Baseball', why is there so much tearful nostalgia?
Posted by: These Dodgers Suck! | 04/15/2011 at 03:29 PM
Jackie Robinson was the perfect person to be the one to break the color barrier and I'm grateful to have had the privilege to follow him throughout his career.
Posted by: OldBrooklynFan | 04/15/2011 at 04:06 PM
Jackie was one of the greats..No disrespect should ever come to his memories way.
Posted by: CoachKennyBuford | 04/16/2011 at 11:47 AM