Inside The Ballpark - Baseball Humor Blog

Jackie Robinson: The Most Important Ballplayer to Ever Play the Game

by Jim Walker on April 15th, 2008

Now before everybody goes crazy, misinterpreting the title of this, let me just clear something up: I’m not saying he was the best to ever play the game. That debate can rage on for all time, though personally you’re wrong if you say anybody else but Mickie Mantle (I kid… or do I?). I am saying that, for what he did for the game of baseball and for Major League Baseball as an organization, Jackie Robinson was the single most important individual to ever play the game of baseball. I don’t feel I have to explain why, because if you watched a single baseball game tonight, you are well aware.

What Robinson did for the game of baseball simply cannot be measured. Without Robinson, names like Pujols, Rodriguez, Gonzalez, Sheffield, and Ichiro would probably mean nothing to you. Without Robinson, the Hall of Fame would lack some of the greatest to ever play the game: Bob Gibson, Willie Mays, and Roberto Clemente come to mind immediately. No, what Jackie Robinson did for the game of baseball, and in a larger perspective, for the advancement of civil rights in the United States cannot be measured by any man. In recent years, MLB has adopted a new tradition on Jackie Robinson Day, where players are allowed to wear the number #42. While I love this idea, Major League Baseball has handled the tradition’s implementation poorly.

330 players (including nine entire teams) wore #42 today. While I’m happy to see so many players wanting to honor Robinson, this is simply over-saturation. If I were running things in Major League Baseball, I would handle this far differently than Bud Selig. First, and foremost, the only team that should be allowed to have their whole roster wear #42 is (naturally) the Dodgers. Of course, in a perfect world the team would also have to play their game in Brooklyn on that day, but one step at a time. Secondly, ONLY ONE representative from each team NOT named the Dodgers would be allowed the number for the day. Also, the player in question would not be a white player. No offense to all the white folks reading this (I’m a white guy, myself), but there is just something unfitting about a white player wearing #42 on Jackie Robinson day. If I’m alone in this sentiment, I’ll shut up about it.

If you want to go the other way with this, then have every player on every team wear #42. This way you at least have some kind of uniformity with the celebration.

Regardless, today was about Jackie Robinson, and just as baseball has done with this day every year since I can remember, they have handled the celebration with honor and grace.

*Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

Tags: 42, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Bob Gibson, Gary Sheffield, Ichiro, Ivan Rodriguez, Jackie Robinson, Jackie Robinson Day, Juan Gonzalez, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays

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POSTED IN: MLB News, Miscellaneous