Posted on 04/12/2007 7:15:02 PM PDT by TravisBickle
Are the growing numbers of players planning to wear Jackie Robinson's No. 42 on Sunday too much of a good thing? Minnesota Twins outfielder Torii Hunter thinks so.
"This is supposed to be an honor," Hunter told USA Today, "and just a handful of guys wearing the number. Now you've got entire teams doing it. I think we're killing the meaning.
"It should be special wearing Jackie's number, not just because it looks cool," Hunter told the newspaper.
"It kind of waters it down," Cleveland Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia told USA Today. "I could see the Dodgers since that was his team, but not everyone else."
What started as Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. receiving special permission from Robinson's widow Rachel to honor the 60th anniversary of Robinson integrating the major leagues has balooned into more than 150 players saying they'll don Robinson's No. 42 on Sunday. Five entire teams -- the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros -- will field rosters of 42s for the day.
"I didn't know so many guys planned to wear the number. I sure wasn't expecting whole teams to wear it," Griffey told the newspaper of his gesture-turned-movement. "But I'm not going to look at it as a negative. This is a tribute for what the man has done, a day to celebrate."
But Los Angeles Angels left fielder Garret Anderson told the newspaper he won't wear No. 42. "I just don't feel I'm worthy of it," he explained.
This is really just a silly charade, in my opinion. Black (American) ballplayers now represent less than 10% of the players on big league rosters, so the elimination of the color barrier is losing its importance over time anyway.
This sounds like the black leaders complaining that Black History Month is taking away from the importance people place on black achievement.
You just can’t make some people happy.
Garret Anderson GETS IT...if it were only Ken Griffey Jr, or even only the Dodgers, it would be one thing. But the 150 bandwagon guys who are wearing it (just to say they did it) are diluting the significance.
Didn’t the Dodgers retire #42?
Just another example of the players being much much smarter than the bozos paid the big bucks to run the game. The NBA had a synthetic ball and a All Star game in Sin City and we know how those bright ideas worked out. That All Star game cross pollinated and ended up getting NFL guys suspended.
They should also be giving credit to Branch Rickey.
Whay is Robinson so important? What about the other 41?
Baseball ping...
All of major league baseball retired #42 a few years ago, even though Jackie Robinson didn’t play for those teams.
(The idea offended my sensibilities.) He didn’t play for those teams.
They can’t have it both ways — either the number is retired or it isn’t.
It really offends my sensibilities if more than one player on a team is allowed to wear #42 at one time.
Question: How long before the first #42 jersey, autographed by the player who wore it for one day, appears on E-Bay?
Jackie Robinson was a Republican?? Thanks for the info, did’nt know that.. You never hear that in the MSM!!
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