Jackie Robinson was celebrated before and during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ game against the St. Louis Cardinals Friday night, with both teams wearing Robinson’s 42 on their backs during the game and the night beginning with pregame ceremonies dedicated to the former Dodger, who broke baseball’s color line in 1947. Don Newcombe, Maury Wills, and current Dodgers Matt Kemp and James Loney participated in a panel discussion earlier Friday.
Major League Baseball has gone all-out in celebrating Jackie Robinson day Friday, launching a social media/video supersite called iam42.com with a number of videos from current and former MLB personnel about what Robinson’s legacy means to them. A cursory refresh showed Cardinal Jake Westbrook among others who spoke on why they were 42.
On The Run Mobil will be raffling off the Cardinals’ Jackie Robinson jerseys, with donations being matched by Anheuser Busch, according to the St. Louis broadcast. The jerseys will be awarded to the winners when the Dodgers come to St. Louis to play their next series with the Cardinals.