# 42 Thread

[$heriff Tom]

Balls is going to love this one. Hey, Balls, you may want to skip the last paragraph, and see what Mariano Rivera has to say about the guy 42 is retired for.

NEW YORK -- By proclamation of the Commissioner, for the second consecutive year as Major League Baseball celebrates the anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking its color barrier, any big league player can wear the late Hall of Famer's famous No. 42 in action that day.
"All players have the option. It's entirely up to them," Commissioner Bud Selig told MLB.com on Monday. "Candidly, I hope they all do it."

Next Tuesday is the 61st anniversary of the day Robinson put on a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform in a regular-season game for the first time, thus re-integrating Major League Baseball forever. This year's signature event will be at Shea Stadium, as the Nationals visit the Mets, whose manager, Willie Randolph, grew up in Brooklyn and has often said he's a great admirer of Robinson.

There's a full slate of games on Tuesday. Robinson also will be honored in each of the other 14 Major League ballparks where games are scheduled. Shea is in its last season, to be replaced next year by nearby Citi Field, where the Jackie Robinson rotunda will replicate the famous entry to Ebbets Field. That's the tiny long-gone ballpark one borough over from Queens where Robinson went out to play first base that day in 1947. The Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves, and the grand old game was never the same.

Selig will probably be at Shea, he said on Monday. Rachel Robinson, Jackie's seemingly ageless widow and the founder of the now 35-year-old Jackie Robinson Foundation -- which offers college scholarships to underprivileged minority students -- will be there for the ceremony and a tour of the partially completed new ballpark that's targeted to open in time for the 2009 season.

MLB.TV will have a part in the evening, too.

From 6-7 p.m. ET, during the nightly WhipAround show, MLB.TV's Harold Reynolds will report from the Shea Stadium field, and the pregame ceremonies will be aired live.

And when the Mets take the field, some of their players will run out there wearing the famous number that Selig retired on the occasion of Robinson's 50th anniversary in 1997.

Robinson was simply issued that number as a matter of course by then equipment manager John Griffin upon his arrival in Brooklyn. Robinson wasn't the first or the last player to wear the famous jersey for the Dodgers. In 1939, George Jeffcoat did so when he pitched one game. And long after Robinson retired in 1956, it was issued again to Ray Lamb, a pitcher from USC. But Lamb was so uncomfortable wearing the number in 1969, he gave it up when the season ended.



After that, it was never worn again by a Dodger and was retired by the club in 1972, a decade after Robinson was elected to the Hall of Fame.

The idea of "unretiring" Robinson's number last year was the brainchild of Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr., who personally petitioned the Commissioner for the opportunity.

"It's just my way of giving that man his due respect," Griffey said at the time. "I just called Bud and asked him if I could do it. He made a couple of phone calls and said, 'Yeah.' We had a good conversation. It was about me wearing it on that day, and only that day."

Other players followed suit.

Barry Bonds, MLB's all-time leader with 762 homers and then of the Giants, quickly accepted at the behest of Peter Magowan, the team's managing general partner. When all was said and done, Andruw Jones, Dontrelle Willis, Torii Hunter, Jermaine Dye, Derrek Lee, Mike Cameron, Gary Sheffield and, C.C. Sabathia were among the stars who honored Robinson by wearing the number.

"It meant a lot," said Sabathia, who started for the Indians last year and defeated the White Sox that day. "I'm just excited I got a chance to pitch. To be able to pitch and play on this day was huge."

Full squads, such as the Dodgers, Pirates, Cardinals, Astros and Brewers pledged their allegiance to Robinson as the 25 players on each team wore No. 42. Dodger Stadium was the scene of the central ceremony for last year's 60th anniversary.

"I think it's great," Selig said about last year's No. 42 tribute that is now spreading into this April. "Just their understanding of history and what that man did for so many people is so important. Believe me, it makes me very happy."

Mariano Rivera, of course, has worn No. 42 since he joined the Yankees for good in 1995, and he was among a handful of players grandfathered in when Selig retired Robinson's number throughout baseball. Rivera is the only remaining active player who still wears it day-in and day-out.

"You're not just talking about any player or any person," Rivera said about the legacy left by Robinson. "The respect that he had for the game, the passion that he had for the game, how he played the game -- we should respect that and tribute that."

[9]

And away we go ...

[$heriff Tom]

Whats funny is that if Mariano Rivera somehow saw Balls' take on the subject, he would call him a moron.

[MSBNYY]

Like Mariano knows anything about Jackie Robinson. This is the stupidest, most PC thing ever. But again, I find it to be a nice justice that 42 will be retired for a YANKEE.

[$heriff Tom]

Like Mariano knows anything about Jackie Robinson

I would be crushed to find out he didnt. Its bad enough that when Don Mattingly first came up and was asked about standing where Lou Gehrig stood, he had no idea who the reporter was talking about.

Thats one of the sadder yarns in Yankee lore.

[Chris]

DON-NIE BASEBALL...CLAP....CLAP....CLAPCLAPCLAP!

[MSBNYY]

Bud Selig has done everything but dig Jackie Robinson up and suck his rotting cock.

[ajfreakz]

BABE FUCKING RUTH..
what a fucking shame ?? #3 who on the tampa bay rays gets to wear that # ...fucking joke

[$heriff Tom]

More from mlb.com

PHOENIX -- Orlando Hudson's eyes grew wide, and his expression was incredulous when he was asked this week if he intended to wear Jackie Robinson's No. 42 upon the celebration of next Tuesday's anniversary of the Brooklyn Dodgers great breaking the color barrier on April 15, 1947.

"Of course, I'm going to wear No. 42," the Diamondbacks' second baseman said on Tuesday. "Why do you even have to ask? If he didn't do what he did, I wouldn't be here. I just wouldn't be here."

Since Commissioner Bud Selig proclaimed that, for the second consecutive year, any big league player can wear the late Hall of Famer's retired jersey in action on Tuesday, the acceptances have come in fast and furious.

"All players have the option; it's entirely up to them," Selig said. "Candidly, I hope they all do it."

Hudson did so last year, along with D-backs teammates Chris Young and Eric Byrnes. All say they will wear it again. And as the early returns came in, it is clear that each of the 30 teams is taking a different approach. The Rays, for instance, have determined that all 25 players will do it. The Brewers, who were big on the unity thing last year, have designated one player this time around: first baseman Prince Fielder.

"It's pretty cool," said Fielder, whose name was picked out of a hat. "What [Robinson] did, what he had to go through, I couldn't have done it. You guys know my temper. I'm glad he was able to do it for me, so I didn't have to deal with that."

Many other teams have opened it up to two or three uniformed personnel, or more. Six Twins will don the No. 42, including Craig Monroe, Delmon Young, Denard Span, Livan Hernandez, Matt Guerrier and first-base coach Jerry White.

From the Reds camp, right fielder Ken Griffey Jr. and manager Dusty Baker confirmed their allegiance. From the Indians, center fielder Grady Sizemore and left-hander C.C. Sabathia said they were both again proud to do it. Among the Mariners, outfielder Charlton Jimerson said wearing a baseball jersey with the No. 42 on his back would be a special thrill.

"It would be an honor, it really would," Jimerson said.

Young center fielder Joey Gathright, right fielder Jose Guillen and first-year manager Trey Hillman will make up the Royals' contingent.

"For me, Jackie Robinson is the first black man I ever heard speak proper English and seem well-educated, so he did a lot for me," Gathright said. "He let me know there was a lot more out there in the world than just living in Mississippi in the woods.

"He brought baseball to me, was able to speak as a black man to me -- a lot of things. It was the way he was, and I respected him a lot."

From the Padres, Tony Clark and Scott Hairston will wear it. From the Cubs, Daryle Ward and Derrek Lee are on board for the second consecutive season.

"Anything you can do to bring awareness to what [Robinson] did and pay your respects to what he did is definitely a good thing," Lee said.

From the Marlins, it will be Bo Porter, Florida's third base/outfield coach. From the Orioles, it's 22-year-old center fielder Adam Jones. The Astros have asked center fielder Michael Bourn to represent them. On the Phillies, shortstop Jimmie Rollins was bestowed the honor. From the Braves, it's veteran center fielder Mark Kotsay.

"Obviously, it means a great deal to represent something that Major League Baseball has made into a tradition," Kotsay said. "You pay your respects to the fact that this man and many others went through those racially motivated trials and tribulations."

[MSBNYY]

You wouldn't be seeing this if it were Jackie Rubinstein's number. What an antisemetic commissioner that Selig is.

[Jason Giambi]

thats because there were Jews in MLB before bud was born.

[$heriff Tom]

Jews were never segregated out of baseball, wether or not people think it would have been the right thing to do.

[Chris]

Any of you ever see Viva Baseball?

It was a Spike TV documentary about latin players in baseball. It was very good - and very interesting how some of the white skinned latin players were allowed to come play here in the early part of the century while the black skinned players weren't.


This conversation reminded me of it.

[MSBNYY]

The bottom line is that Selig has basically deified this guy, and he wasn't all that. Yes, he was great and all that, but enough is enough. Babe Ruth meant more to the game than Robinson. Any MLB level black person could have been Jackie Robinson. Only Babe Ruth could have been Babe Ruth.

Robinson has been honored like crazy, but this shit has passed the point of ridiculousness a long time ago. Selig is an ass.

[9]

You are delusional. Purely delusional. Would "any MLB level black person" have been able to put up with the pressure Robinson was under?

[MSBNYY]

Delusional is thinking that ONLY Jackie Robinson could handle that. It wasn't just his character that helped him out. He was under orders not to fight back and to take it. Let's not make him out to be more than he was. Too late.

If you think that had Jackie Robinson never existed, baseball would be any different today, you're nuts.

[grover]

Words cannot express the rage that just shot through my body as I read Balls last two posts.

You are such a fucking asshole it's not funny. You deserve everything Frost put on you because you argue idiotic shit like that. Suck Robinson's dick? How about you suck my dick.

If you knew anything about Baseball history aside from the Yankees you'd know that most people who know the game, AKA a group you will never be a part of, has said if Larry Doby was the first black man in baseball things may have been radically different, because he didn't have that grit Robinson had.

The only thing you know about struggle is you struggling to keep this fucking dweeb message board up. Well, count me out of it.

Hey, if this is so not a big issue, have this conversation with Brian or Don next time you see them, and see what they think.

You really are an asshole sometimes. It's always about Yankees, and you HAVE to being up a Yankee, because we know for a fact that Robinon had a cake walk and it wasn't a big deal but hitting homeruns is such a act of diligence that Babe Rush should be honored and honored because if he didn't hit homeruns the game would not have survived and it was physically and all around impossible for anyone else to do what Ruth was doing, and if he didn't no one would have figured out how to play the game that way. This has been proven over and over by Balls.

[MSBNYY]

And if you knew anything about the game, you would know that there is absolutely no way in hell there wouldn't be black people in baseball today.

You can insult me all you want, but it won't change a thing. It's not about the Yankees. This guy has been so over honored, it's not even funny.

He was not a fucking god.

It's one thing to recognize and honor a guy. But Selig has overdone it.

Babe Ruth was so important to baseball that if he didn't exist, the 1919 Black Sox scandal might have killed the game right then and there. There would have been no game for Robinson to affect.

Ruth was the biggest celebrity in the world at the time.

I'm not saying the color barrier being broken wasn't important or significant. It was. I'm not saying Robinson didn't put up with a lot of shit. He did.

But enough is enough. This has nothing to do with the Yankees.

He's had honor after honor and it has become ridiculous. His accomplishments are no less significant if baseball doesn't retire his number for every team. He has highways named after him. He has stadiums named after him.

All this shit is just political correctness gone wild, where idiots like Bud Selig can pat himself on the back and say, "look how enlightened we are." It's sickening.

[grover]

Yeah ok asshole, how about you construct an argument without brining up a Yankee? You could have said what you said without brining up Babe Ruth but you couldn't because you're a retard. Notice how you are trying to change things up when I bought up Doby, who you probably know nothing about, and how Doby's character was no where near that of Robinson's. So, yeah, things may have turned out VERY different were Doby first, dickface. And I will insult you all I want, because I can.

You're argument is beyond idiotic. You could have just said "I find this a bit overkill' without trying to diminish what Robinson has done, which is far more important to Baseball and the history of America than anything Ruth did, and that is widely accepted by everyone but you, some fucking well off Jew living a good live in a great part of Manhattan trying to tell us about what Robinson's struggles really meant. Are you fucking off your rocker? Go fuck yourself. You have no idea how insulting some of your arguments really are.

[MSBNYY]

Fine. The only reason I bring up Ruth because here is a guy who did even more for the game than Robinson, but does not have the same honor. Not that I think any player deserves it.

All the little namecalling in the world will not change that. And I do know about Doby. He put up with the exact same shit as Robinson. They entered the league just 11 weeks apart. If he didn't have the same character and strength, he wouldn't have survived. Read some articles on his character. It was there.

Branch Rickey deserves more credit for Robinson's attitude and actions than Robinson does. He's the one who told him what to do. Robinson's own character was the exact opposite. He was a fighter. When he was in the army, Robinson got courtmartialed for refusing to go to the back of the bus. Not that fighting is wrong, but Rickey made it perfectly clear that he needed a guy who had the courage NOT to fight back. Very interesting reading.

Insulting me doesn't change that your arguments aren't strong. The whole point I'm making is that this is beyond overkill. It's ridiculous. And sorry, but yes, baseball would have black people in 2008 whether Robinson existed or not. After WWII, the commissioner of baseball made it very clear he wanted that. The attitude was that if black people could fight and die for their country, they sure as hell should be allowed to play ball. It was coming no matter what.

But let's say Robinson fought back and didn't take shit from anyone. Let's say he was a failure. In 2008, there would still be black people in baseball.

Yes, he was a great choice for the first. Yes, he did a fantastic job handling himself and the pressure that went with it. No argument.

But what's next, put his face on every baseball? The whole point is that this is beyond overkill.

[grover]

There's is no let's say, there only IS.

Don't you think it took a good part of Robinson's mental toughness to listen to Rickey? You think that just because Rickey told him not to fight back that ANYONE could have done it? You really are a fucking asshole. The only thing Ruth did for Baseball was make it popular. Robinson had a impact far greater than that on Baseball as well as the nation. And you know what? I also think what Selig is doing is overkill. I'm not a fan of anniversaries like '60th' and shit like that. I like the important numbers like 50, 75, 100, ect. But I'm not so much of an asshole to construct an argument belittling what Robinson did by saying that if he didn't do what he did everything would be the same and that some fact fucking faggot like Babe was more important.

Do we not celebrate George Washington for being our first president? There would have been a 1st president if it were not for him, so why do we bother? Babe Ruth meant more to the American Revolution than Washington. Who cares if Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon? Someone would have done it eventually. Babe Ruth meant more to the moon landing than Armstrong.

You're an asshole.

[MSBNYY]

I'm not saying ANYONE could have done it, but the ability to listen to Rickey was hardly something ONLY Robinson could have done.

The only thing Ruth did for baseball was make it popular? But if baseball died, there would have been no venue for Robinson to break into.

And you're on crack if you think Robinson's impact outside of baseball was bigger than Ruth's. More significant? Arguably. More poignant and serious? Definitely. But Ruth wasn't representing one group of people--Ruth WAS America. He was one of the most recognizable faces and figures on the planet.

The Japanese, when insulting America in WWII, said, "to hell with Babe Ruth."

Washington was infinitely more important to the history of this planet than Jackie Robinson. HE shaped our country.

And no, Neil Armstrong wasn't that signficant. There were 3 people in that rocket. Any one of them could have stepped out of the pod first. That was NASA's accomplishment as a whole.

[$heriff Tom]

I love how people like Balls think that if Babe Ruth never came around baseball would have folded.

Um, yeah. They would have totally scrapped it. Yup! No more baseball. Thank God Babe Ruth saved it. What would Balls do if he didnt have Yankee games to go to, thanks to Babe Ruth keeping baseball in existence!

[grover]

So fucking what if the Japs said fuck Babe Ruth? Who fucking cares?!!??! ALL OF NEW ENGLAND HAS BEEN SAYING FOR BABE RUTH FOR 100 YEARS YOU DICKFACE!!!

[9]

Grover, would you please, please, please stop using logic?

[MSBNYY]

We never went to war with New England. Babe Ruth was the symbol of the entire country. And if Tom understood baseball history, he wouldn't diminish Ruth's emergence and what it did for baseball. But Ruth is a Yankee so he has to.

[thecaptain15]

If they are doing this retire MLB wide crap then Babe Ruth should have been first on the list.......forget color he saved the game itself...

Tom would agree if Ruth stayed a Red Sox...LOL

[$heriff Tom]

Robinson's legacy a major part of Citi
Mets' new home will have rotunda to honor baseball great

NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball has chosen to anchor its Jackie Robinson Day festivities at Shea Stadium this year, and that's telling. Though the Dodgers will always call Robinson one of their own -- and all of baseball has a right to do the same -- the Mets consider themselves stewards, in a way, of Robinson's legacy. This was the Major League city that he first called home, and the Mets feel a responsibility to honor it.

"Remember," Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said. "Our blue and orange is from the Dodgers and the Giants. We understand our place in National League history."

That's why, when the Mets open their state-of-the-art Citi Field in Flushing in April 2009, Robinson will be a focal point of the new stadium. Every fan who steps off the subway will be greeted by the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, a meeting place styled after Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field. A cross between a baseball stadium and a miniature museum, the rotunda will feature a statue of Robinson in an effort to cement his legacy for years to come.

Now, with another Jackie Robinson Day on baseball's doorstep, the Mets are eager to show off their new little piece of history, which has taken shape all winter. Though fans aren't able to walk through the rotunda quite yet, the Mets will ensure that next April's stadium opening will come complete with all the pomp that Robinson deserves.

"It's a big focal point," Wilpon said. "It's the type of thing that you have to give it its due. That's what we're trying to make sure of -- that the man is recognized and people realize that they're walking through something that is special."

Entering the rotunda, fans will be greeted by the statue of Robinson in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform, along with a carefully chosen inscription running along the top of a back wall: "A life is not important, except for the impact it has on other lives."

"Millions of people should go through the rotunda and think about that," Mets chairman Fred Wilpon said after the project was first announced. "Within the rotunda, we are going to tell the story of Jackie Robinson, not only as a great baseball player, but also as a great American."

Wilpon's players can appreciate their role in all that. They are part of a team that has taken a personal responsibility to not just remember, but further Robinson's legacy.

The Mets are indeed a shining example of what Robinson brought to baseball. With so many minority players on the roster, these Mets, especially, have Robinson to thank.

"It's something that no matter what race or religion or culture we come from, everybody is a Jackie Robinson fan," third baseman David Wright said. "Just being a fan of the game or a fan of Jackie Robinson, it's going to be special to call a place like that home and have that rotunda be a part of our home."

Now that Robinson's Dodgers are gone from the city, the Mets have taken their place -- both in the context of baseball and the context of history. The Jackie Robinson Rotunda is one small way in which they can turn that responsibility into an impact.

"It's obviously a big part of New York and a big part of New York's history," Jeff Wilpon said. "We wanted to make sure that he was properly recognized here."

[Chris]

I did a little speed-bumping here, but I caught a few things.

To say that people are stupid for implying that blacks may have never played major league baseball if it weren't for Jackie (and I don't believe anyone said that) coming on the heels of saying yourself that baseball would have folded without Babe Ruth is the height of ..............a whole slew of negative adjectives.

UNBELIEVABLE!

[MSBNYY]

Given that attendance was hitting all time lows at a time when baseball was rocked by its biggest scandal, less than a decade before the Great Depression, and that Ruth revitalized the game single handedly, it is very possible baseball would have folded. Ruth is widely given credit for this. Jackie Robinson, while being credited for his significance, is not someone without whom there never would be black people in baseball.

Captain is right about Ruth.