Comments on: Major League Baseball celebrates Jackie Robinson Day

By: Utley's Hair

Utley's Hair — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:34:20 +0000

I wasn’t calling you out on it, Drew, though it seems that I was. I was actually commending you on it. I don’t know how long it was on there. By the time I had read it and logged in to comment, the page had been fixed.

By: 18thstreet

18thstreet — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:12:33 +0000

In the New Bill James abstract, he said that, looking at the available numbers, Robinson was probably an exceptional defensive player. What’s amazing is that no one really remarked it at the time. All James had to go on was putouts and assists (comparing Jackie to league average and to others on his team who played the same position in the same year).

Robinson’s talents as a player are definitely undervalued. That’s okay with me. He wasn’t as good as, say, Joe Morgan. But in 100 years, we’ll still know Jackie’s name.

By: stew48

stew48 — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:37:41 +0000

A P.S. to my comment: We need always acknowledge the part Branch Rickey played in Jackie’s life. It was he, as owner of the Dodgers, who masterminded the whole very difficult process of Robinson being signed, playing in Montreal and then Brooklyn.

By: slavetothetrafficlight

slavetothetrafficlight — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 03:14:18 +0000

Pardon the tangent, but why is Jacoby Ellsbury on there? Native Americans were never outside the color barrier.

By: cur68

cur68 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 22:08:36 +0000

Dodger game’s on. For anyone who has it, Scully’s calling the broadcast and telling Robinson stories. Scully and Robinson knew each other, of course, so these are first hand accounts. Besides Scully calling a game, you also get the bonus of him reminiscing about one of the greatest figures in baseball. Its pretty cool.

By: ncphilliesguy

ncphilliesguy — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:03:39 +0000

I think there are certain people in history that are put in certain situations (by God, providence, the aliens, whatever you believe in) in that only they could succeed. Recently, Chrurchill, JFK, MLK, the firefighters at WTC come to mind. Jackie was one of those people. There aren’t many in sports. Jim Thorpe maybe. Jesse Owens. Jackie’s contribution is to society, not just baseball, and it is great that MLB recognizes him. I wish I could have met the man.

By: ncphilliesguy

ncphilliesguy — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 20:55:34 +0000

I agree with you, I think it would mean more if one African-American player got the honor of wearing Jackie’s number. I think that was the original idea, but the players couldn’t agree on who got to wear it and there was bad feelings.

By: hojo20

hojo20 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:56:49 +0000

I want MLB to retire 31. Greg Maddux was awesome.

By: John Vincent

John Vincent — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:23:52 +0000

Reblogged this on Johnny's Baseball Blog and commented: One of the greatest moments in American History...

By: fcs34

fcs34 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:14:36 +0000

The dude averaged over 8 yards a carry at UCLA. Unreal. Maybe one of the greatest athelets of all time. What a freakin stud.

By: Drew Silva

Drew Silva — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:02:13 +0000

That one sat there longer than it should’ve. My apologies.

By: stew48

stew48 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:38:11 +0000

It is my sincere hope that all baseball fans see the picture of Robinson with Peewee Reese and another teammate shown here. I was fortunate enough to see him play; what an amazing athlete. And, he was’t “jerked around” either. He played where asked because he had a tremendous desire to win and contribute. I have seen him steal home; did it matter what position he played that day? While in the USAF, I listened on the radio when he made an unbelievable (announcers, not me) catch in the Series. For me, the saddest part of the story was his anger later in life, but nothing will taint his tremendous contributions to baseball and the country as a whole.

By: Utley's Hair

Utley's Hair — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:26:22 +0000

I was about to leave an obnoxious response to the overtly racist comment from kfiz. Luckily, somebody in the HBT powers that be decided his/her comment was bad enough to just be stripped off the board. Way to go Drew.

By: astrosfan75956

astrosfan75956 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:59:26 +0000

I hate that they all wear 42, honor one player per team and allow him to wear 42.

By: dondada10

dondada10 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:58:01 +0000

Despite the attention that Jackie Robinson gets, he’s still underrated. Baseball was probably his third best sport: He was a track and field star as well as a high school football legend. What’s more, if a modern day star was jerked between positions and spots in the line-up as much as Robinson was, there would be an uproar.

He was the constant professional and retiring 42 across the league was one of the better things MLB ever did.