Ahead of Jackie Robinson Day, team expresses appreciation
Oakland Athletics outfielder Lawrence Butler made his major-league debut Aug. 11, so he’ll experience Jackie Robinson Day as a big leaguer for the first time when the A’s host St. Louis on Monday night.
“He just paved the way for me and a lot of other guys in this game, to be able to be big leaguers and play baseball, the game that we love,” Butler said in the A’s clubhouse Sunday morning.
On April 15, 1947, Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier, as he was the first baseman and scored a run for the Brooklyn Dodgers in their 5-3 season-opening win over the Boston Braves in front of 26,623 fans at Ebbets Field.
Robinson played 10 years for the Dodgers, was the 1947 Rookie of the Year, the 1949 NL Most Valuable Player and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962. One of the most significant Americans of the 20th century, Robinson died 10 years after his induction, on Oct. 24, 1972, at the age of 53.
A few weeks after Robinson died, A’s third-base coach Eric Martins was born.
Martins, an infielder at Long Beach State and in the minor leagues, said Jackie Robinson Day “means everything to me. The reason why I’m here is because of him. I get to put on a major-leaguebaseball uniform because of him. I got to be able to play this game because of him. It’s probably one of the most important days of the baseball season for me.”
African Americans made up only 6% of major-league rosters on Opening Day.
“You get into this game and you see there aren’t a lot of people like you,” Butler said, “so you embrace (Robinson) a little bit more as you get older.”
The way Robinson was able to endure the abuse he faced endures to this day.
“What he went through, probably half of us today wouldn’t even make it through half a season,” Butler said. “For him to be able to do that, I’m just thankful that he kept playing, fought through adversity.”
Said Martins: “Latin players, Asian players, any players of different cultures that came from different places are allowed to play because of Jackie Robinson. He basically broke the barrier for everybody.”
In 1997, on the 50th anniversary of Robinson’s first big-league game, MLB announced his No. 42 would be retired throughout the majors. The first Jackie Robinson Day was April 15, 2004, and all players, coaches and managers have worn No. 42 on every April 15 since 2009.
“It’s a tremendous honor to wear 42,” said A’s corner infielder J.D. Davis, who’s in his eighth big-league season. “Just the tradition, the significance of it, the symbolism of it.”
“It definitely sends chills up my body, to be able to represent him,” Martins said of wearing No. 42. “I’ll wear his socks. I’ll wear some shoes dedicated to him.
“I look forward to that day every single year, being able to put on 42, just sit and relish the good parts of his career and also feeling the things that he had to go through and a lot of the stuff that he endured for us to be able to play this game.”