JACKIE ROBINSON’S WIDOW ATTENDS MUSEUM’S OPENING
Long dreamed about and in development for longer than the big-league career of the man it honors, the Jackie Robinson Museum opened Tuesday in Manhattan with a gala ceremony attended by the widow of the barrierbreaking ballplayer and two of his children.
Rachel Robinson, who turned 100 on July 19, watched the half-hour outdoor celebration from a wheelchair in the 80-degree heat, then cut a ribbon to cap a project launched in 2008.
Her 72-year-old daughter, Sharon, also looked on from a wheelchair and 70year-old son David spoke to the crowd of about 200 sitting on folding chairs arrayed in a closed-off section of Varick Street, a major thoroughfare where the 19,380-square-foot museum is located. It opens to the public on Sept. 5
“The issues in baseball, the issues that Jackie Robinson challenged in 1947, they’re still with us,” David Robinson said. “The signs of white only have been taken down, but the complexity of equal opportunity still exists.”
Rachel Robinson announced the museum on April 15, 2008, the 61st anniversary of Jackie breaking the big-league color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field.
A gala dinner was held Monday night to preview the museum, which contains 350 artifacts, including playing equipment and items such as Robinson’s 1946 minor league contract for $600 a month and his 1947 rookie contract for a $5,000 salary. The museum also holds a collection of 40,000 images and 450 hours of footage.
A 15-piece band played at the ceremony, attended by former pitcher CC Sabathia, former NL President Len Coleman and former Mets owner Fred Wilpon, along with players’ association head Tony Clark and Hall of Fame President Josh Rawitch.
“Without him, there would be no me,” Sabathia said. “I wouldn’t have been able to live out my dream of playing Major League Baseball.”
Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman, director Spike Lee (wearing a Brooklyn Dodgers cap) and former tennis star Billie Jean King also were on hand.
“It seems like we’re more divided than ever,” King said. “People like Jackie Robinson was a great reminder every single morning, every single evening that we have to do the right thing every day.”
Notable
David Ortiz returned to Fenway Park for the first time as a newly minted Hall of Famer.
The Red Sox honored their long time slugger before the game against the Cleveland Guardians. Three giant World Series banners were unfurled on the field. Three championship trophies sat on a table behind Ortiz as he thanked the Boston fans.
Dignitaries in attendance included Hall of Famers Carl Yastrzemski, Pedro Martinez, Jim Rice and Vladimir Guerrero. Ortiz’s former manager Terry
Francona and John Farrell were also there, along with ex-GM Theo Epstein. After the ceremony, Francona headed over to the visitor’s dugout to manage the Guardians.
• Third overall pick Kumar Rocker signed with the Texas Rangers, a week after the right-handed pitcher was drafted again and a year after concerns over a physical led to him going unsigned by the New York Mets as the 10th overall pick.
• Slugger Giancarlo Stanton could miss a few weeks with the Yankees after being put on the 10-day injured list with left Achilles tendinitis.