Major League Baseball pays homage to Jackie Robinson, one of its most transcendent players.
Each April 15 marks two occasions, one sacred and the other lamentable in the extreme. The sacred occasion is Jackie Robinson Day, which commemorates the major-league debut of a genuine baseball and American hero who brought history to heel.
That said MLB continues to do an excellent job each year to remember the legacy of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier on April 15, 1947. Although it doesn't seem like much, every player wearing No. 42 (which is
2) Jackie Robinson had almost nothing at all to do with the column, which was completely ghost-written by a long-time aide. At best, he chose a topic (or agreed with the one that was chosen) and then gave it a read before it
Pittsburgh Courier sports editor Wendell Smith, who had been calling for the integration of baseball for nearly a decade, recruited three quality ballplayers, Jackie Robinson, Sam Jethroe and Marvin Williams. The Red Sox agreed to look at the ballplayers.