Notebook: Mets' Randolph set to wear No. 42 [Article]

[blueNorange]

Article

ST. LOUIS -- Willie Randolph was ready for a fight but, apparently, that won't be necessary. After all, he is the manager.

Major League Baseball announced yesterday it would allow one player from each team to wear the No. 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson for games played on April 15. That's the day baseball has designated to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the former Brooklyn Dodgers great breaking the game's color barrier.

Earlier, outfielder Lastings Milledge and infielder Damion Easley, the Mets' only African-American players, each said he'd be honored to wear Robinson's number that day. But Randolph, who grew up in Brooklyn after the Dodgers left town for Los Angeles, had first dibs.

"It's a tremendous honor," he said. "We were talking about it earlier and I said I'd fight anyone else who wanted to wear it. Anything associated with Jackie Robinson is an honor for me."

"If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here," said Milledge, who turns 22 today and has a grasp of baseball history that has eluded many players his age.

Robinson's number was retired by Major League Baseball in 1997 and only Mariano Rivera, who already wore it, wears it currently. Ken Griffey Jr. asked permission to wear the number on "Jackie Robinson Day" and Commissioner Bud Selig thought it a good idea to let someone from each team wear the No. 42 on that day.

"Baseball's done a great job to honor a man who has meant so much to so many people," Randolph said

[Remember the Past]

I love willie lol...he sets a great example for our players.