On Wednesday, you'll see players all around baseball wear No. 42, and the Seattle Mariners star is the reason why.
On Wednesday, Major League Baseball will officially celebrate 'Jackie Robinson Day,' which pays homage to the date of Robinson's major league debut in 1947.
That day, in which Robinson suited up for the Brooklyn Dodgers, officially broke baseball's color barrier and helped start the process of integration in the sport.
As part of the celebrations of Robinson's legacy, you'll notice each player in the league wearing No. 42.
But did you know that the gesture of wearing No. 42 actually goes back to Seattle Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr.?
We got that story in a February episode of the 'Refuse to Lose' podcast with Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick:
"Absolutely. It was his idea. He went to then-commissioner Bud Selig, and of course, they had officially retired the number. Now, if you were still wearing it, you were grandfathered in. And so Mariana Rivera (Yankees) is the last to wear 42 as a regular number. But Junior went to then Commissioner Bud Selig and asked permission to wear number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson on April 15th. And the commissioner then went to the Robinson family to get their blessings. And they blessed it. They loved the idea. And I guess the sentiment was, 'okay, Junior, not only will you wear it, we all will wear it.' And really, that's how that day, where now all the players wear 42 on April 15th comes into play, because of Ken Griffey Jr."
We also spoke with Kendrick about some other Mariners connections, including the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum's relationship with Ichiro Suzuki.
"Ichiro has a special place in our hearts here at the Negro League Baseball Museum because of the relationship that he had with the late, great Buck O’Neill, the founder of this museum. And the relationship was so interesting because they became kind of kindred spirits united, because Ichiro would say that he admired Buck’s style.
And Buck was very snazzy. And Buck would always be out at the K (Kaufmann Stadium), hanging out at the batting cage, not just talking to the Royal players, but talking to all the players when they came through Kansas City. And so he struck up a relationship, or I should say, the two of them struck up a relationship. And I think for Buck, Buck knew exactly what Ichiro was going to go through when he announced that he was coming to the US to play in the major leagues. Because no matter what he had accomplished there in Japan, the minute he said he was coming to go play over here in the major leagues, all the naysayers said, 'well, you did that in your league, you won’t do that in our league.' And what does he do? He comes over here and rips this league up as well.
Seattle Mariners special assistant to the chairman Ichiro Suzuki looks on before the game against the Cleveland Guardians at Peoria Sports Complex. Rick Scuteri-Imagn ImagesAnd see, Buck understood that, Brady, because it was the exact same thing for those Negro League players when they started transitioning into the major leagues. The naysayers were saying the exact same thing."
As for the game itself on Wednesday? The Mariners and Padres will play at 6:40 p.m. PT with Emerson Hancock pitching for the M's.
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