On Sunday, Major League Baseball celebrated the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson becoming the first black player to reach the big leagues. Players took part in the occasion by wearing the number 42 on the backs of their jerseys, while ESPN did stories looking back on Robinson's legacy and focusing on the diminishing number of blacks in baseball.
As all baseball fans know, the road Robinson took to becoming the first black in the majors wasn't easy. Some of his own teammates hated him. Opposing team's fans across the country mocked and taunted him mercilessly. I have a great deal of respect for the hardships that Robinson had to go through, and if MLB wants to make a huge celebration out of April 15 and call it Jackie Robinson Day or whatever, that's fine. But then it has to consider acknowledging some other notable figures.
First, there's the man who took the chance of bringing Robinson into the majors, Branch Rickey. Where is the celebration surrounding what he did?
Keep in mind it was Rickey who told Robinson to keep a cool head when the racial hatred was on display in baseball stadiums across the National League. Had Rickey not instructed Robinson to remain calm, Robinson wouldn't have been able to stick around long enough to have the legacy he has. Robinson would've been chased out of the game, Rickey would have looked like a fool, and the integration of baseball would've been set back for who knows how long.
This July 5, there should be another 60th anniversary celebration, but it won't reach the magnitude of the one yesterday.
On that day in 1947, Larry Doby became the first black ballplayer in the American League when he took the field for the Cleveland Indians. Why isn't he celebrated in the same fashion as Robinson? Doby even played in one more All-Star Game (seven to Robinson's six) and won just as many World Series.
Just because Doby showed up less than three months later shouldn't take away from what he also had to go through.
And while we're on the topic of anniversaries, why aren't we celebrating the 105th anniversary of Luis Castro being the first Hispanic player in MLB, or the 43rd anniversary of Masanori Murakami being the first Asian player to make an impact in the majors? It's not like those players didn't have to deal with stereotypes, discrimination or ethnic profiling.
Yes, Jackie Robinson deserves the credit for his accomplishments on the field, and more importantly, his dealings with the off-the-field problems he faced. But at the same time, you have to honor Branch Rickey because without Rickey, there's no Jackie Robinson. And without
Robinson and Larry Doby, there's no Ernie Banks or Hank Aaron. Without Luis Castro, there's no Roberto Clemente or Alex Rodriguez. And without Masanori Murakami, there's no Ichiro Suzuki or Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Bottom line, Major League Baseball: If you're going to lavishly celebrate the breaking of one barrier, you should be willing to lavishly celebrate them all.
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Jason Fazzone
