Jackie Robinson Day

Jackie Robinson Day

The first Jackie Robinson Day was observed on April 15, 2004, a historical start to an annual tradition throughout Major League Baseball and an inspirational reminder about what happened on that day exactly fifty-seven years earlier, when one baseball player took the field and changed the world.

During the 2007 regular season, Ken Griffey, Jr. called baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and asked for permission to wear number 42, which had been retired for every team by Major League Baseball in a moving ceremony which took place in 1997, on Jackie Robinson Day. Selig embraced the gesture and encouraged other clubs to have a player wear number 42 on Jackie Robinson Day as well.

Teams from both leagues ran with the idea and outfitted multiple players, and in some cases, the entire roster, with number 42. Baseball Almanac is pleased to present a comprehensive list of players & coaches who wore number 42 on Jackie Robinson Day (2007).

"It's bigger than just a number. This is American history. I might be going out on a limb, but I see so much emphasis on it the last couple of weeks about Jackie Robinson. . . . He opened the doors for everybody in baseball. If it wasn't for him, there wouldn't be a lot of the great storylines you see in baseball today. I hope they continue to have that intensity to remember Jackie Robinson at all times." - Florida Marlins Pitcher Dontrelle Willis on MLB.com (Mark Newman, 04/16/2007)

Jackie Robinson Day April 15, 2007 Jackie Robinson in the Locker Room Players Who Wore Number 42
Player Name	Team
Antonio Alfonseca	Philadelphia Phillies
Marlon Anderson	Los Angeles Dodgers
Greg Aquino	Milwaukee Brewers
Tony Armas, Jr.	Pittsburgh Pirates
Brad Ausmus	Houston Astros
Rod Barajas	Philadelphia Phillies
Josh Barfield	Cleveland Indians
Jose Bautista	Pittsburgh Pirates
Jason Bay	Pittsburgh Pirates
Jonah Bayliss	Pittsburgh Pirates
Joe Beimel	Los Angeles Dodgers
Heath Bell	San Diego Padres
Adrian Beltre	Seattle Mariners
Gary Bennett	St. Louis Cardinals
Lance Berkman	Houston Astros
Wilson Betemit	Los Angeles Dodgers
Craig Biggio	Houston Astros
Chad Billingsley	Los Angeles Dodgers
Barry Bonds	San Francisco Giants
Dave Borowski	Houston Astros
Michael Bourn	Philadelphia Phillies
Milton Bradley	Oakland Athletics
Emil Brown	Kansas City Royals
Jonathan Broxton	Los Angeles Dodgers
Chris Burke	Houston Astros
Pat Burrell	Philadelphia Phillies
Dave Bush	Milwaukee Brewers
Mike Cameron	San Diego Padres
Robinson Cano	New York Yankees
Matt Capps	Pittsburgh Pirates
Chris Capuano	Milwaukee Brewers
Jose Castillo	Pittsburgh Pirates
Shawn Chacon	Pittsburgh Pirates
Alex Cintron	New York Yankees
Brady Clark	Los Angeles Dodgers
Tony Clark	Arizona Diamondbacks
Royce Clayton	Toronto Blue Jays
Francisco Cordero	Milwaukee Brewers
Humberto Cota	Pittsburgh Pirates
Craig Counsell	Milwaukee Brewers
Carl Crawford	Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Coco Crisp	Boston Red Sox
Elmer Dessens	Milwaukee Brewers
Greg Dobbs	Philadelphia Phillies
Chris Duffy	Pittsburgh Pirates
Zach Duke	Pittsburgh Pirates
Chris Duncan	St. Louis Cardinals
Jermaine Dye	New York Yankees
Adam Eaton	Philadelphia Phillies
David Eckstein	St. Louis Cardinals
Jim Edmonds	St. Louis Cardinals
Brad Eldred	Pittsburgh Pirates
Jason Ellison	Seattle Mariners
Morgan Ensberg	Houston Astros
Johnny Estrada	Milwaukee Brewers
Andre Ethier	Los Angeles Dodgers
Adam Everett	Houston Astros
Prince Fielder	Milwaukee Brewers
Randy Flores	St. Louis Cardinals
Cliff Floyd	Chicago Cubs
Ryan Franklin	St. Louis Cardinals
Rafael Furcal	Los Angeles Dodgers
Freddy Garcia	Philadelphia Phillies
Nomar Garciaparra	Los Angeles Dodgers
Geoff Geary	Philadelphia Phillies
Luis Gonzalez	Los Angeles Dodgers
Tom Gordon	Philadelphia Phillies
Tom Gorzelanny	Pittsburgh Pirates
Tony Graffanino	Milwaukee Brewers
Curtis Granderson	Detroit Tigers
Ken Griffey, Jr.	Cincinnati Reds
Gabe Gross	Milwaukee Brewers
Tony Gwynn	Milwaukee Brewers
Scott Hairston	Arizona Diamondbacks
Jerry Hairston, Jr.	Texas Rangers
Bill Hall	Milwaukee Brewers
Cole Hamels	Philadelphia Phillies
Josh Hancock	St. Louis Cardinals
Rich Harden	Oakland Athletics
J.J. Hardy	Milwaukee Brewers
Corey Hart	Milwaukee Brewers
LaTroy Hawkins	Colorado Rockies
Wes Helms	Philadelphia Phillies
Mark Hendrickson	Los Angeles Dodgers
Ryan Howard	Philadelphia Phillies
Orlando Hudson	Arizona Diamondbacks
Torii Hunter	Minnesota Twins
Jason Isringhausen	St. Louis Cardinals
Geoff Jenkins	Milwaukee Brewers
Derek Jeter	New York Yankees
Andruw Jones	Atlanta Braves
Jason Jennings	Houston Astros
Tyler Johnson	St. Louis Cardinals
Jacque Jones	Chicago Cubs
Randy Keisler	St. Louis Cardinals
Don Kelly	Pittsburgh Pirates
Adam Kennedy	St. Louis Cardinals
Jeff Kent	Los Angeles Dodgers
Mike Lamb	Houston Astros
Jason Lane	Houston Astros
Adam LaRoche	Pittsburgh Pirates
Carlos Lee	Houston Astros
Derrek Lee	Chicago Cubs
Brad Lidge	Houston Astros
Jon Lieber	Philadelphia Phillies
Mike Lieberthal	Los Angeles Dodgers
Kenny Lofton	Texas Rangers
Braden Looper	St. Louis Cardinals
Mark Loretta	Houston Astros
Derek Lowe	Los Angeles Dodgers
Ryan Madson	Philadelphia Phillies
Paul Maholm	Pittsburgh Pirates
Damaso Marte	Pittsburgh Pirates
Russell Martin	Los Angeles Dodgers
Ramon Martinez	Los Angeles Dodgers
Gary Matthews, Jr.	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Nate McLouth	Pittsburgh Pirates
Kevin Mench	Milwaukee Brewer
Aaron Miles	St. Louis Cardinals
Damian Miller	Milwaukee Brewers
Trever Miller	Houston Astros
Brian Moehler	Houston Astros
Yadier Molina	St. Louis Cardinals
Craig Monroe	Detroit Tigers
Jamie Moyer	Philadelphia Phillies
Brett Myers	Philadelphia Phillies
Xavier Nady	Pittsburgh Pirates
Abraham Nunez	Philadelphia Phillies
David Ortiz	Boston Red Sox
Roy Oswalt	Houston Astros
Orlando Palmeiro	Houston Astros
Corey Patterson	Baltimore Orioles
Ronny Paulino	Pittsburgh Pirates
Juan Pierre	Los Angeles Dodgers
Brad Penny	Los Angeles Dodgers
Juan Perez	Pittsburgh Pirates
Albert Pujols	St. Louis Cardinals
Chad Qualls	Houston Astros
Humberto Quintero	Houston Astros
Anthony Reyes	St. Louis Cardinals
Arthur Rhodes	Seattle Mariners
Mariano Rivera *	New York Yankees
Wandy Rodriguez	Houston Astros
Scott Rolen	St. Louis Cardinals
Jimmy Rollins	Philadelphia Phillies
Francisco Rosario	Philadelphia Phillies
Aaron Rowand	Philadelphia Phillies
Carlos Ruiz	Philadelphia Phillies
C.C. Sabathia	Cleveland Indians
Olmedo Saenz	Los Angeles Dodgers
Takashi Saito	Los Angeles Dodgers
Chris Sampson	Houston Astros
Freddy Sanchez	Pittsburgh Pirates
Reggie Sanders	Kansas City Royals
Jason Schmidt	Los Angeles Dodgers
Skip Schumaker	St. Louis Cardinals
Luke Scott	Houston Astros
Rudy Seanez	Los Angeles Dodgers
Ben Sheets	Milwaukee Brewers
Gary Sheffield	Detroit Tigers
Brian Shouse	Milwaukee Brewers
Grady Sizemore	Cleveland Indians
Matt Smith	Philadelphia Phillies
Ian Snell	Pittsburgh Pirates
Scott Spiezio	St. Louis Cardinals
Russ Springer	St. Louis Cardinals
Shannon Stewart	Oakland Athletics
Jeff Suppan	Milwaukee Brewers
So Taguchi	St. Louis Cardinals
Marcus Thames	Detroit Tigers
Frank Thomas	Toronto Blue Jays
Jim Thome	New York Yankees
Brad Thompson	St. Louis Cardinals
Brett Tomko	Los Angeles Dodgers
Salomon Torres	Pittsburgh Pirates
Derrick Turnbow	Milwaukee Brewers
Chase Utley	Philadelphia Phillies
Wilson Valdez	Los Angeles Dodgers
Claudio Vargas	Milwaukee Brewers
Carlos Villanueva	Milwaukee Brewers
Shane Victorino	Philadelphia Phillies
Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals
Daryle Ward	Chicago Cubs
John Wasdin	Pittsburgh Pirates
Rickie Weeks	Milwaukee Brewers
Kip Wells	St. Louis Cardinals
Vernon Wells	Toronto Blue Jays
Jayson Werth	Philadelphia Phillies
Dan Wheeler	Houston Astros
Rick White	Houston Astros
Woody Williams	Houston Astros
Dontrelle Willis	Florida Marlins
Jack Wilson	Pittsburgh Pirates
Preston Wilson	St. Louis Cardinals
Matt Wise	Milwaukee Brewers
Randy Wolf	Los Angeles Dodgers
Chris Young	Arizona Diamondbacks
Dmitri Young	Washington Nationals
Player Name	Team
#42 on 2007 Jackie Robinson Day * = Already His Uniform Number

Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. in association with the Jackie Robinson Foundation ran full page ads in several publications and on ESPN which included the following caption (which in our opinion was probably the best they've produced in respect to a promotional event):

HE WAS
A SOLDIER,
A WRITER,
AN ACTIVIST,
A POLITICIAN,
A VOICE,
A LEADER,
A FATHER,
A HUSBAND
AND A FRIEND.

BEING A
HALL OF FAME
SECOND BASEMAN
WAS THE EASY PART.

Besides the players seen above, a few coaches and managers wore number 42 including: Harold Baines (Chicago White Sox First Base Coach), Mickey Brantley (Toronto Blue Jays Hitting Coach), Lloyd McClendon (Detroit Tigers Hitting Coach), Bob Melvin (Arizona Diamondbacks Manager), Willie Randolph (New York Mets Manager), Lee Tinsley (Arizona Diamondbacks First Base Coach), Tye Waller (Oakland Athletics First Base Coach), Ron Washington (Texas Rangers Manager) & Jerry White (Minnesota Twins First Base Coach).

Did you know that the entire 25-man roster of the 2007 Houston Astros, 2007 Los Angeles Dodgers, 2007 Philadelphia Phillies & 2007 St. Louis Cardinals wore number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson?

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