Today, everyone on the field at a Major League Baseball game — players, coaches, umpires — will wear #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier on April 15, 1947. It's the second consecutive year that MLB is honoring the former Brooklyn Dodger. Robinson helped integrate baseball by becoming the first African-American player in the modern era of baseball. Rachel Robinson, Jackie's widow, his daughter, Sharon, and his grandson, will be at Yankee Stadium today, where baseball will honor the Hall of Fame 2nd basemen with a ceremony before the game. Baseball will auction off one signed jersey from each team with proceeds going to the Jackie Robinson Foundation.
Mariano Rivera, who entered the Majors in 1995, is the only player that still wears #42. The number was retired by baseball in 1997, the 50th anniversary of Robinson's first game for Brooklyn.
