Major League Baseball honored Jackie Robinson on Wednesday with every player, coach, and umpire wearing his No. 42 to mark the 79th anniversary of the infielder breaking the sport's color barrier. Robinson debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. He went on to win Rookie of the Year honors, become a six-time All-Star and the 1949 National League MVP. He played in six World Series, and won his only championship in 1955 with the Dodgers. "Every player of color who now enjoys our great sport, they owe it to this man," said Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, the AP reports.
Robinson made his pro debut with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues in 1945. He was there five months before Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey interviewed him for Brooklyn's International League farm club. Rickey wanted to make sure Robinson could withstand the antagonism without reacting angrily. "What he did was incredibly difficult under some of the most harsh circumstances you could ever imagine," Kendrick said. "He had to go out there and deal not only with the racial hatred but he was carrying 21 million Black folks on his back when he walked across those lines. Had he failed, an entire race of people would have failed."
Dave Roberts, one of just two Black managers currently in the majors, told the teams Robinson would be proud that they reflect his dream and vision of what equality and unity would look like. "My ask is that we remember how we got here," Roberts said. Two of Robinson's granddaughters joined the teams at Dodger Stadium, not far from Robinson's adopted hometown of Pasadena. He was a four-sport star at Pasadena Junior College before going on to UCLA, where the Georgia native was better known for football than baseball. Robinson's widow, Rachel, who turns 104 in July, lives in New York and still visits the Jackie Robinson Museum.
"We're really carrying the legacy now and it's an incredible honor," said Ayo Robinson, whose father, David, is Robinson's youngest son. "It's a weight that feels good because it keeps you grounded in what is so important. I feel like the legacy is just as important today as it has ever been." Also on hand in Los Angeles were recipients of scholarships from the Jackie Robinson Foundation. For the first time in at least two decades, the percentage of Black players on opening day rosters increased this season. MLB says 6.8% of players on rosters, injured lists, and the restricted list were Black, up from 6.2% at the start of the 2025 season and 6% at the start of 2024. "We should never forget Jackie Robinson," Kendrick said.
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