April 15, 1947. A young man named Jackie Robinson took the field in an MLB game for the first time, in the most important moment in baseball history. In the modern era, no Black person had been allowed to play on a Major League team.
Robinson was picked specifically for his ability to deal with all the slurs and vulgarities slung in his direction, from the crowd and opposing players alike. Indeed, he was a one-in-a-million human to be able to deal with all of that and go on to show he was more than good enough to belong.
Now, in 2025, the reason why what he did was so important is not being acknowledged anywhere near to its full potential, and in some cases, is being attempted to be erased from history.
In March, in compliance with this current administration’s ridiculous efforts to whitewash the past, the Pentagon removed a webpage recognizing the military career of Jackie Robinson. Uproar was so loud and swift from the public, that the DOD reinstated the webpage, saying it was mistakenly deleted. But the uproar was from the public, and not MLB themselves.
Indeed, MLB seems to be more than happy to go along with this erasing of history, as their press release this year to commemorate the occasion seems to show. Yes, it covers all the things teams and players around the league will be doing, but there is absolutely no indication about why this day is so important not just in MLB, but in all facets of American life.
On top of the Dodgers themselves not speaking out when this first became known, the team on April 7 visited the White House, where they met with the administration which has instructed anything related to diversity, equity, and inclusion to be removed from official government entities. If Jackie were breaking the color barrier today, the Trump White House would have them stand down because they were practicing DEI initiatives.
You can’t be the team that had this important history as a part of your past, and then just smile for the camera with the man responsible for the fact that that history is being erased, based solely on the fact that it was a Black man who made it. If the Los Angeles Dodgers truly wanted to honor Jackie’s legacy, they would speak out and speak out loudly about the erasure of who he truly was as a person. What he endured being the first Black player in the league and how those sentiments are sadly still alive and well today. How in addition to standing up for Jackie, you are also standing up for your manager Dave Roberts and your MVP Mookie Betts, and every other minority on your team and in your system.
My favorite quote of Jackie’s is “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Unfortunately, the Dodgers of now are choosing not to live by those words, and are not as brave as they asked young Jackie Robinson to be. And we all the worse for it.
Tuesday game info
- Teams: Dodgers vs. Rockies
- Stadium: Dodger Stadium
- Start time: 7:10 p.m.
- TV: SportsNet LA
- Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)
