MLB marks 78 years since Jackie Robinson broke color barrier - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Jackie Robinson was the first to break baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers 78 years ago Tuesday. His legacy continues to inspire people inside the major leagues — and outside, too.

Players and staff from the Dodgers, including Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and rookie Roki Sasaki, and the Colorado Rockies surrounded Robinson's statue in Centerfield Plaza hours before game time at Dodger Stadium on Jackie Robinson Day around the major leagues.

They were joined by Basketball Hall of Fame player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who turns 78 on Wednesday. He recalled wearing a Brooklyn baseball cap while growing up in the neighboring borough of Manhattan.

«I'd get in fights with people from the Giants, the Yankees, pretty often,» he said, «but I kept my cap on and nobody was able to knock it off. I was so tall.»

Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor, followed in Robinson's footsteps as a sports star at UCLA, where he won three national championships under Hall of Fame coach John Wooden.

Robinson has continued to be a lifelong inspiration for Abdul-Jabbar.

«He meant excellence, giving your all, giving your best,» Abdul-Jabbar said, «and for all the detractors that are out there, just ignore them and keep on.»

Every team playing Tuesday wore No. 42 jerseys. It's the only number universally retired in the majors.

«It's not just a one-off day,» Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. «We understand what this man did for our world, our country. This is how you go about life. This is something for me, keeping his legacy burning.»

Roberts and Ron Washington of the Los Angeles Angels are only Black managers currently in the majors.

«One of the things Jackie obviously nailed is he realized from an early time that life was