The Jackie Robinson Celebration Game will be played at Vero Beach's Dodgertown between the Port St. Lucie Mets and Florida Fire Frogs out of Kissimmee. But it would be an additional seven years before Selig designated April 15 as the perennial "Jackie Robinson Day" to be celebrated by all major league franchises.
It wouldn't be until 1975, when the Cleveland Indians named Frank Robinson player-manager, when Jackie Robinson's dream would come true.
(AP Photo, File). FILE - In this April 15, 1947, file photo, from left, Brooklyn Dodgers baseball players John Jorgensen, Pee Wee Reese, Ed Stanky and Jackie Robinson pose at Ebbets Field in NY.
The subject of his Dodger Stadium statue was meant to define, as much as the player, the man.
This week's retrograde is dedicated to Jackie Robinson as well as Larry Doby and others (including Pee Wee Reese) who paved the way for equity in baseball. The team will unveil his likene. The second baseman ended roughly 80 years of baseball segregation when he broke the color barrier. According to U.S. News and World Report, the Dodgers will be revealing a bronze statue of Robinson at Dodgers stadium on Saturday. By establishing April 15 as "Jackie Robinson Day" throughout Major League Baseball, we are further ensuring that the incredible contributions and sacrifices he made - for baseball and society - will not be forgotten. It weights 700 pounds and is secured with a 150-pound steel rod. It stands in the left field reserve plaza, where there are views of downtown Los Angeles in one direction and Elysian Park in the other.
His first memories of Robinson, Baker said, came when he was still only a few years old.
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As Rachel Robinson said on the occasion of a recent documentary about her husband, "There is a lot more that needs to be done".
Robinson, raised in California, got a taste of the Canadian winter as the Royals capped off the year by beating the American Association's Louisville Colonels for the Junior World Series championship.
"I guess we've just got to get the word out more", Hicks said, "tell them how great this sport is and how much fun we have".
Robinson's widow, Rachel Robinson, as well as his two children, Sharon and David Robinson were also in attendance, and together, the threesome counted down the moment where the blue curtain was dropped at the statue was unveiled to adoring fans and guests. Their other son, Jackie Jr., died in a vehicle accident in 1971.
That legacy also will be continued by the Jackie Robinson Foundation, which has provided financial and mentorship support to 1,500 students over the last four decades. "He did, Jackie was a very intelligent guy", said McCovey, "He went to UCLA, ran track and field, played football and baseball".
The statue of Robinson is said to be 77 inches tall and features Jackie sliding into home base.
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