MLB honors Jackie Robinson's legacy, 79th anniversary of his debut - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Major League Baseball honored Jackie Robinson on Wednesday with every player, coach and umpire wearing his No. 42 to mark the 79th anniversary of the infielder breaking the sport's color barrier.

Robinson made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. He went on to win Rookie of the Year honors and become a six-time All-Star and the 1949 National League MVP. He played in six World Series and won his only championship in 1955 with the Dodgers.

«Every player of color who now enjoys our great sport, they owe it to this man,» said Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

Robinson made his pro debut with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues in 1945. He was there five months before Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey interviewed him for possible selection to Brooklyn's International League farm club. Rickey wanted to make sure Robinson could withstand the racial antagonism without reacting angrily.

«What he did was incredibly difficult under some of the most harsh circumstances you could ever imagine,» Kendrick said. «He had to go out there and deal not only with the racial hatred but he was carrying 21 million Black folks on his back when he walked across those lines. Had he failed, an entire race of people would have failed. That's an enormous amount of pressure. How he did it with such grace, class and dignity is absolutely incredible. And no, we should never forget Jackie Robinson.»

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets gathered around the center-field statue of Robinson stealing home at Dodger Stadium. Among the Dodgers were Tyler Glasnow, Teoscar Hernandez, Will Smith, Roki Sasaki, Alex Vesia and Will Klein. Shohei Ohtani, who has