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April 16, 1997
A Grand Tribute to Robinson and His Moment
By CLAIRE SMITH
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EW YORK - Of the nearly 54,000 people who crowded Shea Stadium on Tuesday night to honor Jackie Robinson, only a handful knew the man who 50 years before broke the color barrier in baseball and changed the range and hue of America's heroes.
Rachel and Sharon Robinson, mother and daughter, who joined President Clinton and other dignitaries for the tribute to Robinson at the Mets-Dodgers game, knew Robinson as husband and father. And former teammates like Ralph Branca and Joe Black could speak of the vulnerable yet unbending man who lived a career so compelling its retelling has once again riveted a nation.
Yet it was the thousands who gathered at Shea under pristine skies -- people who did not know Robinson yet came to pay homage to him -- who underscored just how one man was able to transcend a sport and touch America.
They stood together and cheered in his honor during a 35-minute ceremony after the fifth inning. As players from both teams watched from the top step of the dugouts and a national cable television audience looked on, President Clinton joined Rachel Robinson and Bud Selig, baseball's acting commissioner, at home plate and addressed the crowd.
Clinton, using walking canes because of a knee injury, said: "It's hard to believe that it was 50 years ago that a 28-year-old rookie changed the face of baseball and the face of America forever. Jackie Robinson scored the go-ahead run that day; we've all been trying to catch up ever since."
The president also called for more progress toward racial equality, and called on the boardrooms of baseball and America to adhere to the ideals of equality established by Robinson. "If Jackie Robinson were here today," Clinton said, "he would say we have done a lot of good in the last 50 years, but we could do a lot better."
He then introduced Mrs. Robinson, who received the warmest greeting of the night. "I believe the greatest tribute we can pay to Jackie Robinson is to gain new support for a more equitable society," she said, "and in this heady environment of unity it is my hope that we can carry this living legacy beyond this glorious moment."
Selig, the first to address the crowd, proclaimed that Robinson was the only one in baseball history who was "bigger than the game." And he brought the fans to their feet with an announcement that Major League Baseball would retire Robinson's No. 42 in perpetuity.
"Number 42 belongs to Jackie Robinson for the ages," Selig said. He said that only the handful of players who currently wear the number as a salute to Robinson, such as the Mets' Butch Huskey and Boston's Mo Vaughn, will be permitted to use the number.
Minutes after the ceremony, the president and thousands of fans exited Shea Stadium. Only a few thousand fans stayed to see the end of the Mets' 5-0 victory.
The tribute took place only a few miles from the place where Robinson made history at Ebbets Field on April 15, 1947, when he played first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers and became the first black player in modern major league baseball. Those in attendance might have been years removed from the segregated world that Robinson challenged in such a public, yet lonely, fashion. But the magnitude of the effort, illuminated by 50 years of history and perspective, made Robinson very real and current.
It made him the stuff of legend to everyone from Clinton to the youngest of the 14,000 city children who were guests of the Mets.
Leaders from the worlds of sports, entertainment and politics gathered for one night to honor not just the man, but the moment in which the star infielder became an even more integral player in America's struggle against segregation. And they cheered, from the VIP box near home plate to the upper decks of the ball park.
The respect and love were obvious. "He carried my every hope and aspiration on his shoulders," said Len Coleman, the president of the National League and the highest-ranking black official in professional sports.
The game itself was a testament to what Robinson started on that cold spring day 50 years ago. The Mets played host to the Dodgers, Robinson's former team. Behind the plate stood Eric Gregg, the senior ranking African-American umpire, who beamed proudly when he talked of "the great, great honor" of working this game.
Taking the mound were the starting pitchers Armando Reynoso and Ismael Valdez, both of Mexico, an example not only of baseball's inclusiveness, but also of its universal appeal, especially in Latin America.
The presence of such people of color underscored the unique relationship baseball has had with minorities since 1947, but one that has been strained by concerns over hiring practices and the dwindling presence of African-American players and fans.
Earlier on Tuesday, Selig addressed the irony and baseball's concern in light of the celebration of Robinson. "The reason it is most important for us to reach out again is that this is a celebration of, without a doubt, the most powerful and important event that ever took place in baseball history," Selig said. "The social ramifications are just enormous -- and hopefully what it will do is inspire us to do better in areas that we should and allow us to reconnect with African-American fans. We need to do better in critical management areas."
Before the game, Rachel Robinson and members of her family gathered in a private Shea Stadium dining room with the president to unveil drawings of silver and gold commemorative coins featuring the player. The profits of their sale will go to the Jackie Robinson Foundation, which Rachel founded in 1973, the year after Robinson died at age 53.
"The coins," Mrs. Robinson said, "represent the totality of the man."
The ceremony after the fifth inning was designed to stir memories of one of baseball's more memorable and spontaneous moments, the night in Baltimore in 1995 when Cal Ripken Jr. surpassed Lou Gehrig's consecutive-game record. That impromptu celebration came in the fifth inning because that is when the game became official.
Why the fifth inning on Tuesday night? "We did it because we felt it was an important enough event to interrupt a major league game," said Richard Levin, a spokesman for major league baseball, who said the planned stoppage was unprecedented in baseball.
The home-plate ceremony was not the only event of note on the day. Before arriving at the stadium, Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani joined representatives of Queens and Brooklyn in a morning ceremony at Highland Park. They signed legislation that changed the name of the Interboro Parkway, which connects the two boroughs, to the Jackie Robinson Parkway. Highland Park runs alongside the parkway and is near Cypress Hills Cemetery, where Robinson is buried.
"It didn't take a great baseball player to tear down that barrier of segregation, it took a great man," said Pataki, who signed the bill that had been rushed through both houses of the state legislature Monday so that the name of the parkway could be changed on the anniversary.
The pomp and circumstance of Tuesday would surely have given Robinson pause. Once called the loneliest man in America because of his agreement to not only integrate the major leagues but also to agree not to lash back at those who assailed him, he knew the importance of his task. Only he and his closest friends and family knew the toll it took, once saying that he figured he and baseball were even because "I got a lot and I gave a lot."
The fact that Robinson now finds himself put in the same context of a Rosa Parks and, some would say Martin Luther King, isn't considered surprising by Frank Robinson, the first African-American to manage a major league team.
"It's happening because it's sports and because people are really starting to understand and appreciate what he did and what he went through," said Robinson, who will participate in yet another Jackie Robinson Day the Mets will stage on July 5, when the club plans to donate some of its proceeds to the Jackie Robinson Foundation.
"The moment he stepped onto the field it reached out to everyone," Frank Robinson said. "As a child growing up in Oklahoma I knew then that I could realize my dream if I worked hard and had the skills. It gave us someone real to rally around, someone who could carry the flag. By doing that, by walking among them and showing everyone we could keep our heads high, he helped bring our whole society together."
The event certainly reunited the world of sports and entertainment. Branch Rickey III, president of the American Association and the grandson of Branch Rickey, was in attendance. So here were Branca, Black and Larry Doby, the second African-American to play in the majors and the first to play in the American League as a member of the Cleveland Indians in 1947. Also in attendance were Sandy Koufax, Lou Brock and Reggie Jackson.
The home-plate ceremony was not the only event of note on the day. Before arriving at the stadium, Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani joined representatives of Queens and Brooklyn in a morning ceremony at Highland Park. They signed legislation that changed the name of the Interboro Parkway, which connects the two boroughs, to the Jackie Robinson Parkway. Highland Park runs alongside the parkway and is near Cypress Hills Cemetery, where Robinson is buried.
"It didn't take a great baseball player to tear down that barrier of segregation, it took a great man," said Pataki, who signed the bill that had been rushed through both houses of the state legislature Monday so that the name of the parkway could be changed on the anniversary.
The pomp and circumstance of Tuesday would surely have given Robinson pause. Once called the loneliest man in America because of his agreement to not only integrate the major leagues but also to agree not to lash back at those who assailed him, he knew the importance of his task. Only he and his closest friends and family knew the toll it took, once saying that he figured he and baseball were even because "I got a lot and I gave a lot."
The fact that Robinson now finds himself put in the same context of a Rosa Parks and, some would say Martin Luther King, isn't considered surprising by Frank Robinson, the first African-American to manage a major league team.
"It's happening because it's sports and because people are really starting to understand and appreciate what he did and what he went through," said Robinson, who will participate in yet another Jackie Robinson Day the Mets will stage on July 5, when the club plans to donate some of its proceeds to the Jackie Robinson Foundation.
"The moment he stepped onto the field it reached out to everyone," Frank Robinson said. "As a child growing up in Oklahoma I knew then that I could realize my dream if I worked hard and had the skills. It gave us someone real to rally around, someone who could carry the flag. By doing that, by walking among them and showing everyone we could keep our heads high, he helped bring our whole society together."
The event certainly reunited the world of sports and entertainment. Branch Rickey III, president of the American Association and the grandson of Branch Rickey, was in attendance. So here were Branca, Black and Larry Doby, the second African-American to play in the majors and the first to play in the American League as a member of the Cleveland Indians in 1947. Also in attendance were Sandy Koufax, Lou Brock and Reggie Jackson.
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