A Fitting Tribute
Listed in: BaseballUpdate (11:38 PM): As David mentioned in the comments, the phone number at the commissioner's office is (212) 931-7800. You can also call the MLBPA main office at (212) 826-0808. Already, a number of other players (Barry Bonds, Jimmy Rollins, Mike Cameron, etc.) have announced they plan to wear the number, as will the entire Dodgers squad. We're really just a short step away from getting the league as a whole to wear 42.
Just a few minutes ago, I read that Ken Griffey Jr plans to wear the number 42 on April 15th to help commemorate the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier. Baseball retired the number in 1997 as a way to honor Robinson, and currently only Mariano Rivera sports those digits.
Buried at the end of the story is the fact that Selig plans to let other players also wear the number. Why not take it a step further: have everyone wear 42? Sure, it might make things a bit confusing for the official scorekeeper, but can you think of any more fitting tribute? How better to illustrate the debt everyone in baseball owes Robinson than by having everyone in baseball wear his number?
When the decision was made to retire the number 42, one of the reasons given was that so when future generations went to the ballpark, they'd be prompted to ask whoever took them why it was retired, providing an opportunity for a new set of fans to learn a bit about the courage and greatness Jackie Robinson displayed. Why not give us that opportunity again this year? Hell, we could turn it into a tradition: every April 15, all players, managers, umpires, and ball boys/girls wear number 42. It just fits.
Comments
The commissioner's office phone number is 212-931-7800. Call in campaign?
Posted by: David Arnott | April 4, 2007 11:26 PM
Yes, Jackie Robinson was a great player. Yes, he was the first black player in MLB. But why is everyone making a fuss over the 60th anniversary of his first game?
Nothing like celebrating the day that our nation/national pastime became slightly less racist than the day before. It's rememberance days such as this one that are part of the problem rather than solution to fighting racism IMHO.
Posted by: Shafer | April 5, 2007 2:00 PM
It wasn't that the league was slightly less racist than the day before. How many players changed their minds about black players on the day that Jackie Robinson first played? No, it was important because it was the day that baseball as an organization first said, "What we have previously been doing was wrong. And even though there are still a lot of racists both in the stands and on the field, racism is wrong."
And really, whether a remembrance day like this is a solution or not (I think it certainly is a good thing), how do you see it as part of the problem? What is bad about remembering this day?
Posted by: Tim | April 5, 2007 7:37 PM
I still don't understand America's obsession with round-number anniversaries.
Posted by: greg | April 6, 2007 12:05 AM