70 years ago today baseball, the sports world and the country changed forever as Dodgers 2nd baseman Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and became the first African-American player to ever take the field in a Major League game. Today marks the 13th annual celebration of Robinson’s historic debut with players around the game sporting his number 42 on their backs.
Players across the game have taken to social media to pay their respects to the trailblazing Robinson, including the Giants own Hunter Pence and Mark Melancon who both reflected on what this historic day means to them.
Truth. Heart. Respect. #JackieRobinsonDay pic.twitter.com/lAsTUKJTqu
— Hunter Pence (@hunterpence) April 15, 2017
70 years ago you changed baseball… and you changed the world. Thank you. #JackieRobinsonDay #Jackie42 pic.twitter.com/vQQ5VQr3I0
— Mark Melancon (@Mark_Melancon_) April 15, 2017
Giants weekend pre and post game host Marty Lurie looked back at the impact of Robinson with his guests on Saturday’s show, including hall of fame Willie McCovey. McCovey was still a child with big league aspirations at the time of Robinson’s debut, and he told Marty about what impact Robinson had on his baseball dream.
“Jackie had made us interested in baseball. I liked playing baseball although we never thought we could get to the major leagues until Jackie Robinson broke the color line” he told Marty. “Then we realized that there’s a chance at the major leagues, so then I got more interested in playing and practicing.”
Marty pointed out that Robinson helped change the way the game was played in the Major League’s as well, making it a faster game. McCovey agreed with the observation. “He did, Jackie was a very intelligent guy,” said McCovey, “He went to UCLA, ran track and field, played football and baseball.”
Check out the podcast below to hear more of Marty’s conversation with the legendary Giants first baseman