#42

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." -Jackie Robinson

"I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being." -Jackie Robinson




I have fallen of my "blogging horse". I was hoping to get a blog out at least every other day- well there goes that. Anyways, I am going to try and saddle back up...

Yesterday was Jackie Robinson day- one of my favorite days of the baseball year. I have shared a couple of my favorite Jackie quotes at the start of this post. I think that these two quotes really hit at the heart of what Jackie was all about. He was a man who was unafraid of the actions of others and wanted to be treated the way he should have been- as an equal. Unfortunately, that is not always the reception that he received.  If you have not checked out the Movie 42, I strongly encourage you to do so. While it may not paint the whole picture of what Jackie went through, it surely is leading down the right path. I always am amazed at the suffering and pain that he would be willing to go through in order to play in the MLB. He had multiple death threats, players going out of the way to try and injure him, constant verbal and physical abuse, as well as article upon article written about how he was not good enough and did not deserve to play with white baseball players.

Let's not forget that he was not only a great baseball player, but also an amazing all around athlete. He was a four sport standout at UCLA and most likely could have gone pro in three sports. That is an unbelievable feat, regardless of skin color. It is sad to think that he might not have even been given a chance in any sport, if it were not for one manager wanting to "shake it up"and "take a chance" (as stated in 42).

While racism is much better nowadays, let's not fool ourselves and think that is all dried up and gone away. There are still many parts of the country where the color of your skin dictates what jobs you can and can not have. It is sad to think that in 2014 we have no moved past something as petty as skin color. Nobody would even think about not giving someone a job, or treating someone differently because they are over 6 foot tall- but that is essentially what is happening.

I love that the MLB has retired #42 so that no player will ever wear it again. Mo was the only one that did wear it (He was grandfathered in) but now that he has retired, this was the first year that nobody in the MLB has had it issued to him. While it may not make up for the way that he was treated by many, it is a gesture to show just what he has meant to the game of baseball. On April 15, however, all players in the MLB wear #42 in order to honor Jackie. It is a pretty neat scene to see 9 #42 jerseys run out onto the field. Each player that takes the field is, in some way, benefiting from what the original #42 did so many years ago. I also really enjoy how all the professional players talk about what Jackie meant to them. While many of them did not know him personally, they have still been impacted by him and can learn from him

The courage that Jackie Robinson had is something that we can all learn from. He did not care what obstacles stood in his way. He did not care who was going to say negative things about him. He did what he felt was right and what he felt he was entitled to do. He set a tone for minorities everywhere to fight for their equal rights in all aspects of life. Even though the law might have "said" they were equal, there were, and still are, many places that was not the truth. Jackie changed the landscape of professional baseball and paved the road for some of the best baseball players that the MLB has right now. It is scary to think about how long the Major Leagues would have continued to keep African Americans out of the game if Jackie had not been courageous enough to take a stand.