42

From The New York Times:

Sixty years after Jackie Robinson shook the baseball establishment and broke the sport’s color barrier, an unforeseen grassroots movement by today’s players has suddenly shaped the way Major League Baseball will commemorate the anniversary. More than 200 players will wear Robinson’s No. 42 retired by baseball 10 years ago in ballparks across the country on Sunday, the anniversary of Robinson’s first appearance with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

"Jackie Robinson’s impact is still being felt today but it was also felt almost immediately,” said Jonathan Eig, whose new book “Opening Day” chronicles Robinson’s 1947 season. “In my research I discovered a letter from a factory owner in Bloomfield, N.J., who wrote that Robinson was the inspiration for integrating his factory in 1947. He wrote the letter to Robinson’s widow after her husband’s death because he wanted her to know the impact Jackie had on him.”

Earlier yesterday, [Mets manager Willie] Randolph said he had gone into the small closet next to his desk to gather some socks and unexpectedly came across Sunday’s specially-made No. 42 jersey.

“It gave me goose bumps,” Randolph said last night. “I called my wife just to tell her how beautiful it was. I can’t wait to wear it. It’s going to be an emotional day.”

Randolph said that after Sunday’s game the jersey would be framed.

“I have a spot picked out on my office wall,” he said. “That is one I will keep forever.”