New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia is taking his tribute a step further and is thanking the late Robinson in his own way with a sweet pair of custom Jordan cleats.
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“Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Philadelphia, that City Council hereby recognize, honor and celebrate April 15, 2016 as a day honoring the lifetime achievements and influence of Jackie Robinson, and apologizing for the racism he faced as a player while visiting Philadelphia”.
Titled simply “Jackie Robinson”, the film – co-directed and produced by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon – memorializes the life of the legend, who was the first African American player in Major League Baseball.
The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by Danny Bakewell Sr., the executive publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel and the L.A. Watts Times, chairman of the Brotherhood Crusade and chairman of The Bakewell Co.
From the cover of a book by Sharon Robinson, the daughter of legendary activist and baseball player Jackie Robinson.
Robinson continues to inspire people of all races well beyond his untimely death in 1972, and Major League Baseball has done an admirable job keeping his memory alive.
The baseball and softball teams from John Muir High School in Pasadena, Jackie Robinson’s alma mater, will be in attendance courtesy of the Dodgers’ Kids 4 Dodgers Baseball program.
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Robinson graduated in 1937 and 10 years later broke the color barrier in professional baseball. “It is important for me to be here because of what Jackie Robinson has done, not only to allow me to become an elected official, but also to my uncle”. He was the recipient of the inaugural MLB Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949 – the first black player so honored.
