Enforced: Jackie Robinson Day
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:20 am
I was wondering what some of you think here...
I love baseball. Heck I might love it more then any other sport. And I enjoy baseball history a great deal as well.
Every year MLB calls itself paying honor and tribute to Jackie Robinson setting apart one day where they commemorating his breaking the color line and his Major league debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
It was a great monumental moment in not only America history and all but they make EVERY PLAYER wear #42 on this day.
I was thinking about this while watching a guy in the OF for the Yankees wearing #42 who didn't look like Mariano Rivera. I said to myself, 'wait, that is not Mariano Rivera playing the outfield is it?
I check to see if there was a 23 -0 score or something that would neccessitate Rivera playing CF and then I remembered it was JRobinson Day around all of baseball.
Let me cut to the chase. I have to ask myself if I was Jackie, (and I put myself in his shoes all the time more then any other sports hero) would I want EVERY PLAYER and coach and manager wearing uniform number or even having it retired by EVERY TEAM?
For me, i would be grateful and flattered, but hell no. I would not want anyone wearing my uniform # if they were forced to honor me if they did not feel that way or did not want to. And I would not want MLB to force every team to retire my #42 if they did not want to.
Every year I look at this and it cheapens the honor I think. It is overkill. How about you? I am not Jackie but I can't help but wonder what he would think? Is Henry Aaron next? Vin Scully? We'll see...
I love baseball. Heck I might love it more then any other sport. And I enjoy baseball history a great deal as well.
Every year MLB calls itself paying honor and tribute to Jackie Robinson setting apart one day where they commemorating his breaking the color line and his Major league debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
It was a great monumental moment in not only America history and all but they make EVERY PLAYER wear #42 on this day.
I was thinking about this while watching a guy in the OF for the Yankees wearing #42 who didn't look like Mariano Rivera. I said to myself, 'wait, that is not Mariano Rivera playing the outfield is it?
I check to see if there was a 23 -0 score or something that would neccessitate Rivera playing CF and then I remembered it was JRobinson Day around all of baseball.
Let me cut to the chase. I have to ask myself if I was Jackie, (and I put myself in his shoes all the time more then any other sports hero) would I want EVERY PLAYER and coach and manager wearing uniform number or even having it retired by EVERY TEAM?
For me, i would be grateful and flattered, but hell no. I would not want anyone wearing my uniform # if they were forced to honor me if they did not feel that way or did not want to. And I would not want MLB to force every team to retire my #42 if they did not want to.
Every year I look at this and it cheapens the honor I think. It is overkill. How about you? I am not Jackie but I can't help but wonder what he would think? Is Henry Aaron next? Vin Scully? We'll see...