Why #42?

On Jackie Robinson Day (April 15) an AP community member asked a great question, “Why was he [Jackie Robinson] number 42 when the numbers for a team were only 1 to 9 at that time?”

We’ve found the answer to “why No. 42”…

Robinson was simply issued No. 42 as a matter of course by equipment manager John Griffin upon his arrival in Brooklyn a day before the 1947 season. 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 in only one game. And long after Robinson retired, it was issued again to Ray Lamb, a pitcher from the University of Southern California. But Lamb was so uncomfortable wearing the number in 1969 that he gave it up when the season ended.

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

DID YOU KNOW:
The idea of “un-retiring” Robinson’s number for a day belongs to Ken Griffey Jr. Griffey personally petitioned the Commissioner for the opportunity to wear it. He didn’t know what he was starting.

“It’s just my way of giving that man [Jackie Robinson] his due respect,” Griffey said at the time. “I just called Bud [Bud Selig, Baseball commissioner] 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.”

Selig enjoyed the feel of it so much he now wants to blanket big league fields with all those No. 42s dancing across America.

“I think it’s great,” the Commissioner said. “Just their understanding of history and what that man did for so many people is so important. Believe me, it makes me very happy.”

sourced from Jackie Robinson official website.

#JackieRobinsonDay

Apr. 15, 1947 – Jackie Robinson played his first major league baseball game for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Jackie Robinson Day is a traditional event which occurs annually in Major League Baseball, commemorating and honoring the day Jackie Robinson made his major league debut. April 15 was Opening Day in 1947, Robinson’s first season in the Major Leagues. Initiated for the first time on April 15, 2004, Jackie Robinson Day is celebrated each year on that day. The festivity is a result of Robinson’s memorable career, best known for becoming the first African-American major league baseball player of the modern era in 1947. His debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers (today known as the Los Angeles Dodgers) ended approximately eighty years of baseball segregation, also known as the baseball color line, or color barrier. He also was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, remembered for his services with the number 42 jersey.

The day is often celebrated at varied ballparks by Major League team players. Shea Stadium was one of the prominent venues hosting the event, having commemorated the retirement of Robinson’s number 42 jersey in 1997. The numbered jersey is still worn to mark the event every year. Bob DuPuy, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Major League baseball, described Jackie Robinson Day as a significance “not only for baseball, but for our country in general.”