MLB pays tribute to Robinson's legacy as all wear "42''

Even in a sport that revolves around hundreds of numbers, "42" stands apart. Every player at Yankee Stadium and all other major league ballparks Thursday wore that number to honor Jackie Robinson, who changed the sport and the country when he first wore it on a big-league field exactly 63 years earlier.

"Jackie Robinson's feat, there is no stat for it," Yankees centerfielder Curtis Granderson said before wearing 42 in a game against the Angels, in the same city in which Robinson made history on April 15, 1947.

Granderson said he made it his business to learn about the late ballplayer who broke major league baseball's racial barrier when he appeared for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The current Yankee and his teammates agree that Robinson's achievement is in a different league from baseball's hallowed batting, pitching and won-lost records.

"The things he did allowed me to be standing here today, playing this game," said Randy Winn, who started in leftfield last night for the Yankees and is, like Robinson and Granderson, African-American.

The celebration touched 'em all. "It's everybody's day," said Yankees rightfielder Nick Swisher, who is white. "It's a great day to pay homage to a great baseball player, a great person."

Current ballplayers know about the abuse Robinson stoically withstood in his early years with the Dodgers. They know that No. 42 was retired in perpetuity throughout baseball during the 50th anniversary celebration at Shea Stadium on April 15, 1997, in a ceremony attended by President Bill Clinton and baseball commissioner Bud Selig. Those who were wearing it at the time would be allowed to keep wearing it, but the number never would be reissued.

"It's wonderful. As a minority, to be the last one to wear 42, it's tremendous," said Mariano Rivera, who still wears 42 full-time. "What he went through, I don't think I would have done it."

Until a few years ago, only select players, such as Derek Jeter, wore 42 on April 15 to honor Robinson. "Now I think it's great that everyone does it," Jeter said. "Obviously, what it represents goes without saying. But I've gotten the opportunity to know his family throughout the years. It's a wonderful family. No one deserves the honor more."

Robinson's widow, Rachel, was on the field for a brief ceremony before the game and was given a bouquet of flowers by Robinson Cano and Marcus Thames. Her daughter Sharon joined her as the big screen showed highlights of Robinson's career and the public address system played the 1949 hit "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit that Ball?" Jesse Sims, Robinson's grandson, threw the ceremonial first pitch.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, "It's important to keep his legacy alive" based on what he did for baseball, "and more important for our country." Historians agree that Robinson's debut led to many civil rights triumphs and ultimately paved the way for a black president.

Granderson was asked what Robinson might say about the decline since the 1970s in the percentage of ballplayers who are African-American. "Actually, to be honest with you, I think he'd be happy," he said. "Back in his day, I doubt he could have imagined Asian players playing and Latin Americans and players from South Africa. I think he'd be excited that the game has grown from when it used to be all American and all white."