Mets and Dodgers celebrate Jackie Robinson Day: ‘It’s special to wear his jersey here’
LOS ANGELES — Jackie Robinson may not have played at Dodger Stadium, but make no mistake, his influence is as much a part of one of baseball’s most storied ballparks as the World Series trophies and the sweeping views of the Sierra Madre mountain range. His influence extends for miles all over the Los Angeles area, stretching from Pasadena, where he grew up, to Westwood, where he lettered in baseball, basketball, football and track at UCLA. His boyhood home on Pepper Street has been preserved by the Pasadena Historical Society.
There are monuments dedicated to him in Pasadena and beyond, and numerous fields named for one of baseball’s most impactful heroes. Where the Bruins play, there is both — a bronze statue of Jackie Robinson that sits near the entrance of Jackie Robinson Field, adjacent to the UCLA campus. There is extra meaning for some when it comes to playing in Los Angeles on Wednesday, when the league celebrates Jackie Robinson Day.
“It’s special to wear his jersey here,” Mets second baseman Marcus Semien told the Daily News this week. “Jackie is from this area, Jackie is an L. A.
guy. I get to play a position he played a little bit of. ” These things exist all year round, yet they get all shined up for the one day a year when baseball recognizes the anniversary of the historic day in 1947 when Robinson broke the sport’s color barrier.
April 15 is celebrated every year to ensure his legacy lasts and that inclusivity in sports continues. “It’s about helping the next generation,” Semien said. “I think about the youth in the game, players who maybe look like me.
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