April 15, 1947 - Sixty years after the first African-American player in the major leagues, Moses Fleetwood Walker was unofficially banned from baseball (no, Jackie Robinson was not the first to play baseball in the major leagues), Jackie Robinson takes to the field for his first official game in a #42 Brooklyn Dodgers uniform. He plays first base instead of his more natural middle infield position because he is willing to do and endure whatever in order to be on the ball field. He sacrifices his natural position, much as he had to sacrifice his Kansas City Monarchs Negro League teammates, his ego, and to a good extent, his freedom of speech while never knowing what could await him from the fans, opposing players, and even his teammates (imagine if one of Jackie’s teammates chose to swing through on a pitch when Robinson was attempting to steal home).

All so that he can play a game on the same field with other men who share his passion for the sport and his desires to succeed but do not share the same pigmentation of skin color.

April 15, 2008 - Sixty-one years and sixty-one baseball seasons after Robinson’s heroic rookie campaign that saw him not only stand up against racial separation but also excel on the diamond with a .297 average, 12 HR, and 29 stolen bases. Stats that proved great enough to win him the 1947 Rookie of the Year Award (which has recently been renamed the Jackie Robinson Award), over 330 players and nine full squads don a #42 jersey .

The same #42 jersey that is retired in every ballpark in the big leagues thanks to Bud Selig’s 1997 efforts to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Robinson’s rookie season (NOTE: Mariano Rivera still regularly wears #42 and is the only player who still actively uses it as he had the number when the number was retired).

Some see it as the ultimate compliment to the deceased Robinson, his legacy, and his wonderful wife Rachel. However, allowing anyone to wear the #42 seems shameful to Robinson in a way to me. I am sorry, but seeing the number 42 on the back of 30 Tampa Bay (no longer Devil) Rays’ jerseys just doesn’t seem like the most fitting tribute.

Not that no one should be allowed to wear the number to represent and remember Robinson and his accomplishments, but players like Scott Dohmann (a white right-handed Rays’ reliever from New Orleans who has a career 5.17 ERA) haven’t earned the right in my eyes to wear the single most prestigious number in sports (the only number retired across an entire sport). What has Dohmann done even remotely similar to Robinson? About the closest connection I’m finding is that both were from the South and played baseball.

I also don’t think a player like Nathan Haynes should be given the opportunity to wear the number. Haynes, an outfielder with the Rays, has had 71 career at bats and his greatest claim to fame is probably that he is the nephew of the Pointer Sisters. Haynes is black but that isn’t enough for me to give him a free pass on wearing the #42 jersey.

At the most, Selig and Major League Baseball should only allow a select few wear the number in honor of what Jackie did. Let one player per team or even allow an even 42 players across the league wear the jersey number on April 15th. It shouldn’t just be a casual decision a player has the option of making. Others may completely disagree, but the jersey shouldn’t be tossed around to anyone who shows up in the clubhouse and decides “Heck why not?” or “It might break me out of this slump.”

Players who have made an impact with their careers, not only on African-Americans but on all who play the game of baseball, are the ones who should be given the honor of rocking out the #42 on April 15. It should be something that has to be requested through each individual ball club, and if your home organization believes you are worthy of wearing the number that can forward your request onto MLB, where the final decision would be made.

Instead of players that have thrown a bat at an umpire (Delmon Young) or have multiple baby-mamas that each has a unique restraining order filed against the father (Elijah Dukes) wearing the legendary number, it should be superstars such as Ken Griffey Jr., who was the original brainchild of the idea last year to commemorate Robinson by wearing his jersey number, or Frank Thomas that should be able to carry the torch to the new wave of black players like C.C. Sabathia and Carl Crawford, who is probably one of the most similar to Robinson in the fact that he starred in multiple sports just as Jackie did (a letterman in four sports at UCLA, he was the Pacific Coast Conference leading scorer in basketball, a national champion in track, an All-American in football, and the shortstop for the baseball squad).

Just as they did when Jack Roosevelt Robinson wore the #42, sacrifice, commitment, dedication, fearlessness, and unfaltering will should be the characteristics of any player on a major league team that has the #42 across his back.

Shotgun Spratling

Rate this:
2.5

If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy these related posts: