Growing up in the Bahamas, Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. learned a lot about baseball from his maternal grandmother.
A shortstop for the Bahamian national softball team in the 1980s, Patricia Coakley first started teaching her grandson to hit at 2 years old. She also taught him about the big leaguer she idolized most.
“That was my grandma’s favorite player,” Chisholm told the Daily News when asked about Jackie Robinson. “So for me to be able to wear 42, to feel like Jackie – I normally always go high socks on Jackie Robinson Day, all that — so I can’t wait.”
All of Major League Baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson Day on Tuesday, April 15, as it was on this day that the former Dodgers’ trailblazer debuted and broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947. The annual celebration calls for all uniformed personnel to wear Robinson’s iconic No. 42, and players and coaches often share reflections on the Hall of Famer and Civil Rights activist.
“He’s one of the most important figures in American history, and certainly in the last 80 years now or so,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously, he was part of integrating our sport, but part of further integrating America and other sports.”
This year, Jackie Robinson Day fell roughly a month after the Defense Department removed and then restored a webpage recognizing Robinson’s military service. The initial removal came amid a purge of diversity, equity, and inclusion content at the desire of the Trump Administration.
“I feel like that’s weird,” said Chisholm, who doesn’t follow U.S. politics. “History is history. I feel like everybody should be able to learn about their past.
“At the same time, it’s hard to fight the power. It’s hard to fight the people in charge of doing that, because if they want to do it, they can do it. But at the same time, it’s kind of harsh to be just scrubbing out people’s history.”
MLB has also taken related heat, as it recently removed references to diversity, including mentions of its lauded Diversity Pipeline Program, from its online careers page.
The Yankees, however, told The News they remain committed to their Diversity and Inclusion Committee ahead of Jackie Robinson Day. On Tuesday, the team hosted the New York Urban League for an equity summit at Yankee Stadium prior to the Bombers’ game against the Royals.
Yankees players, meanwhile, spent their pregame interviews sharing their gratitude for Robinson.
“I wouldn’t be standing here today without all the sacrifices that Jackie made, and a lot of people before me,” Aaron Judge said. “It’s just a kind of humble reminder looking back on his story and what he went through just to play this game. I go out here and have some fun, but he had a lot of hate, a lot of discrimination against him, and he still went out there and had an incredible career. So it just speaks volumes to the type of hero he was. So anytime you get a chance to wear 42 and represent him and represent what his legacy stood for, it’s something I definitely don’t take for granted.”
Chisholm, meanwhile, found it especially cool to be celebrating Jackie Robinson Day in New York, as Robinson starred for Brooklyn’s iteration of the Dodgers from 1947-1956.
“If it wasn’t for Jackie, me and a lot of other guys wouldn’t be here today,” Chisholm said. “People like me, my color, my race. So I just feel like it’s an important day to just celebrate your people and be yourself.”
Boone, meanwhile, shouted out another baseball pioneer.
The manager was asked about his grandfather, Ray, overlapping with Robinson. The two played in an All-Star game together, but Boone noted that his grandpa was also teammates with Larry Doby in Cleveland.
Doby integrated the American League on July 5, 1947, just months after Robinson first suited up for the National League Dodgers. There’s been some push in Paterson, New Jersey — where Doby first shined as a high school athlete — to get the Hall of Famer his own annual, league-wide celebration.
“Anytime Jackie Robinson would come up, my grandpa would turn to Larry Doby,” Boone recalled. “I feel like sometimes Larry Doby gets lost in this, and he was an amazing player and an amazing person and did the same thing shortly thereafter in the American League.”
Originally Published: April 15, 2025 at 6:31 PM EDT
