About this same time last year, I had an opportunity to interview Dodger team historian Mark Langill about… well, Dodger history. During that interview, I asked Mark a relatively simple question, to which he gave me a very profound answer that basically puts into prospective the most significant moment in not only Dodger history, but in baseball and social history as well:

RC: What is the single greatest moment in Dodger history?

ML: That would be April 15th, 1947, when Jackie Robinson played his first game. It sounds trite to say that because it was a bigger moment… not for the franchise, not for the sport, but for the entire country. As the years go by and you see the T-shirts, and you see the commemorative jerseys, and you see the posters, and things like that, and you realize that Jackie has been gone since 1972. I just don’t think, as time goes on, people understand the magnitude of what he went through… the pressure that Branch Rickey felt and others within the organization to sign an African American. And then for Jackie to put himself out there on the field, and it’s not just a matter of is he going to succeed on the field. You have to go back in time and when you look through the FBI file and everything like that and realize that he was always concerned about his personal safety, it makes you wonder how on earth was he able to perform as well as he did with constant death threats or taunts and things like that.

Every other ball player that comes out on the field, they can just do their thing and if it’s 4 for 4 or 0 for 4, they’re still a ball player, but Jackie in 1947 was doing something that was so courageous on his part, I just think as time goes on it’s easy to celebrate his accomplishments on the field, but I just don’t think people appreciate the courage and see the magnitude of basically putting his life at risk to do what he did, and then to have to not say anything for a couple years by the agreement of Branch Rickey. Far and away the most important moment in Dodger history was Jackie Robinson’s first game.

On Monday evening, April 15, 2013, the Dodgers (and all of baseball) celebrated Jackie Robinson Day at Dodger Stadium and aside form the game itself (which the Dodgers lost by a score of 6-3), the pre-game tribute to the most influential man in the game’s history was nothing short of spectacular.

Adorned with 42 logos on the pitcher’s mound, dugouts and along the baselines and special Jackie Robinson Day jeweled bases on the field, Dodger Stadium definitely dressed up for the occasion.

Dodger Stadium was adorned with special Jackie Robinson Day banners.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Festivities included a special video tribute to the baseball legend and joining the sell-out crowd were Jackie’s wife Rachel and their daughter Sharon and son David. The Dodgers also paid tribute to Dodger Hall of Fame catcher and three-time NL MVP Award winner Roy Campanella and 1956 NL MVP and Cy Young Award Winner Don Newcombe.

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Harrison Ford, who portrays Branch Rickey in the movie 42.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Fans attending the game were given a Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella statue courtesy of the film 42 now playing in theaters across the country. The Dodgers also recognized Tuskegee Airmen Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Lumpkin and Major Levy Thorn Hill at their nightly ‘Veterans of the Game’. The Tuskegee Airmen are recognized as the first African American aviators in the U.S. military during World War II.

The first 40,000 fans at Monday night’s game received one of these statues honoring Robinson, Newcombe and Campanella.
(Image courtesy of Dodgers.com)

As noted in history books and highlighted in the movie 42, Robinson’s teammate Gene Hermanski was once quoted as saying “Maybe tomorrow we’ll all wear 42, so they won’t tell us apart.” Although obviously said in jest, Hermanski’s words were taken to heart sixty-two years later in 2009 when every player, coach, and manager in the MLB began wearing jersey number 42 on Jackie Robinson Day. Even the umpires have the number 42 on their attire.

After the pre-game ceremonies, Sharon Robinson signed copies of her new book Jackie Robinson: American Hero in the right field team store.

Longtime season ticket holder David Baltazar gets his copy of Jackie Robinson: American Hero signed by Jackie’s daughter Sharon Robinson.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Mark Langill said it best, “Far and away the most important moment in (baseball) history was Jackie Robinson’s first game.”

Thank you 42… thank you.