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Edgy DC Apr 05 2007 10:50 AM

Randolph set to become the eighth 42 in Met history. Randolph to wear Jackie Robinson's uniform number 42 to mark anniversary By JOHN DELCOS THE JOURNAL NEWS ST. LOUIS - Mets manager Willie Randolph thinks it is a great idea and will be first in line for the uniform. Responding to a request from Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., commissioner Bud Selig yesterday temporarily suspended the official retirement of Jackie Robinson's uniform No. 42, and invited each team to have a uniformed member wear the number on April 15, the 60th anniversary of Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier. "It's a tremendous honor for me to wear that number,'' Randolph said. "To wear the number is special to me.'' On April 15, 1997, Selig retired the No. 42 throughout baseball, with the exception of players who were wearing the number. The only player currently wearing No. 42 is Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera. The Yankees' Robinson Cano, who was named for Jackie Robinson, changed his number to 24 this year, reversing the digits in Robinson's number. Selig made the decision to suspend that ruling for the day after getting a call from Griffey. "Jackie continues to be an inspiration to all our players, and his impact will be felt for as long as our game is played,'' Selig said in a statement released by Major League Baseball. "I thank Ken for finding another special way to mark Jackie Robinson Day.'' Griffey's father, Ken, also played in the major leagues, so he grew up in a family aware of Robinson's impact. "If it weren't for Jackie Robinson, I wouldn't be able to put on the uniform I'm wearing today,'' Griffey Jr. said in a statement. "He should be an inspiration not only to baseball players, but to anyone who fights prejudice and hatred.'' Many of today's young black ballplayers have gotten a bad rap for their lack of knowledge when it comes to Robinson's legacy. "I won't say I've studied him,'' Mets outfielder Lastings Milledge said. "But as a black athlete you are aware of the history behind him. As a black athlete, when somebody talks about Jackie Robinson, you know what he's about.'' Around the horn: Randolph started Shawn Green last night, saying he wanted to give him "a chance to get into a groove.'' Green struck out twice Tuesday, including once with runners on second and third and one out. It is possible Milledge might get the start over Green tomorrow against Atlanta left-hander Mark Redman. … Oliver Perez will start tomorrow at Atlanta. He is 2-3 with a 3.69 ERA lifetime against the Braves. … Top pitching prospects Phil Humber and Kevin Mulvey will start for, respectively, the Mets' Triple-A and Double-A affiliates. … Mike Pelfrey will pitch for Single-A St. Lucie on Saturday. … The seven double plays the Mets turned in the first two games were the most since the Cleveland Indians had seven in the first two games of the 1960 season.

metirish Apr 05 2007 10:53 AM

Top stuff by Griffey and Randolph,nice way to pay tribute. I admire the honesty of Milledge,would have been easy to BS right there when asked about Robinson.

Johnny Dickshot Apr 05 2007 10:56 AM

Cool.

Johnny Dickshot Apr 05 2007 11:10 AM

Willie makes 10, not 8.

Edgy DC Apr 05 2007 11:20 AM

That's what I get for not checking the definitive source. I counted: Mo Vaughn Roger McDowell Larry Elliott Ron Hodges Butch Huskey Ron Taylor Somebody Else

Yancy Street Gang Apr 05 2007 11:32 AM

Not all 30 teams have an African-American ballplayer, do they? I wonder if any white guys will be honoring Jackie? It will be interesting to see a rundown of the 30 players who wear number 42 that day.

Johnny Dickshot Apr 05 2007 11:37 AM

Chuck Taylor Tom Hall (one game only) Hank Webb (short time only)

Edgy DC Apr 05 2007 11:38 AM

I asssume any team that doesn't currently have an African-American ballplayer has an Afro-Latino ballplayer, who would have been pretty close to just as banned as African Americans before Robinson.

Johnny Dickshot Apr 05 2007 11:48 AM

I'd be shocked if Cliff weren't representin' for the Cubs.

metirish Apr 05 2007 11:51 AM

Derek Lee might want to honor Jackie,or Jacque Jones .

Edgy DC Apr 05 2007 12:09 PM

Why would Derek Lee want to honor Jacque Jones? This post was paid for by a generous grant from the Willets Point Memorial Smartass Preservation Foundation.

soupcan Apr 05 2007 12:13 PM

Ever see 'The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings'? It was a '70's movie about a barn-storming baseball team made up of black players in the late '30s early '40s. This discussion reminded me of it because Richard Pryor played a ballplayer who was black but used a Hispanic name and told everyone he was Cuban because he felt it gave him a better shot at playing in the Major Leagues.

Edgy DC Apr 05 2007 12:27 PM

soupcan wrote: Ever see 'The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings'? Probably more times than is healthy.

Johnny Dickshot Apr 05 2007 12:34 PM

The entire Dodgers team will wear 42 that day

metirish Apr 05 2007 12:36 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Apr 05 2007 01:01 PM

African American players in the Majors. Angels - Garret Anderson , Gary Matthews,Darren Oliver Astros - none that I can see. Athletics - Milton Bradley,Shannon Stewart Blue Jays - Royce Clayton ,Vernon Wells Braves - none that I can see Brewers - Rickie Weeks ,Tony Gwynn,Bill Hall , Cardinals - Preston Wilson Cubs - Jacque Jones,Cliff floyd,Derek Lee, Devil Rays - Edwin Jackson,born in Germany...,B.J. Upton ,Carl Crawford ,Delmon Young Dimondbacks - Tony Clark , Orlando Hudson, Dodgers - Marlon Anderson ,Juan Pierre????, Giants - Barry Bonds, Dave Roberts9 born in Japan), Randy Winn Indians - none that I can see Mariners - Jason Ellison , Marlins - Dontrelle Willis , Mets - Lastings Milledge,Damion Easley ??? Nationals - Ray King ,Dmitri Young ,Jerome Williams Orioles - Freddie Bynum ,Jay Paton Padres - Mike Cameron Phillies - Tom Gordon ,Jimmy Rollins ,Ryan Howard Pirates - Shawn Chacon Rangers - None that I can see Red Sox - Coco Crisp???? Reds - Ken Griffey , Rockies - LaTroy Hawkins , Royals - Emil brown , Reggie sanders Tigers - Gary Sheffield , Curtis Granderson ,Marcus Thames Twins - Torii Hunter ,Jason Bartlett ?? , White Sox - Jermaine Dye , Yankees - Derek Jeter I did a quick scan of Rosters and as far as I can tell here are the African American players in the majors.

soupcan Apr 05 2007 12:45 PM

Johnny Dickshot wrote: The entire Dodgers team will wear 42 that day That's a bit ridiculous.

Edgy DC Apr 05 2007 12:46 PM

That's some good work. Juan Pierre is definitely in the club.

Yancy Street Gang Apr 05 2007 12:48 PM

I only found out last year that Derek Jeter was black. He must qualify under that "one drop of blood" clause.

dinosaur jesus Apr 05 2007 12:52 PM

It's a bit ironic if the Pirates don't have any black players, considering they were the first team to put nine on the field at the same time. That included Latin Americans, of course. But Shawn Chacon is African-American, isn't he?

Nymr83 Apr 05 2007 12:54 PM

the teams metirish couldnt think of any: astros- none i can think of braves- willy aybar? indians- none orioles - freddy bynum, jay payton pirates- shawn chacon? rangers - kenny lofton royals - none

metirish Apr 05 2007 12:54 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Apr 05 2007 12:56 PM

Prince Fielder fooled me,his Bio said born in Ontario.CA...which I assumed was Canada,it's California.. My list was culled from the 25 man roster so I am sure I missed some,thanks 83.

Edgy DC Apr 05 2007 12:55 PM

Nah. Derek's biracial.

Nymr83 Apr 05 2007 12:58 PM

emil brown and reggie sanders for the Royals

Yancy Street Gang Apr 05 2007 01:09 PM

Wow, that's Jeter's dad??? I had no idea that he was Al Roker's son.

soupcan Apr 05 2007 01:12 PM

Yancy Street Gang wrote: I only found out last year that Derek Jeter was black. He must qualify under that "one drop of blood" clause. [url=http://www.answers.com/octoroon]Octoroon![/url]

Farmer Ted Apr 05 2007 01:20 PM

Jeter is bi-racial so he is only eligible to wear a 4 or a 2. 4 is retired so he has to wear a number that lame players wear, 2. Oh, wait a minute...

Yancy Street Gang Apr 05 2007 01:29 PM

Macaroon!

metirish Apr 05 2007 01:41 PM

So there are maybe 60+ African Americans in the majors,not a lot ,hardly any are starting pitchers..Willis the only one?....

Frayed Knot Apr 05 2007 01:59 PM

Yancy Street Gang wrote: I only found out last year that Derek Jeter was black. He must qualify under that "one drop of blood" clause. Yancy obviously never watches Yanqui games where Jeter's parents (during those games when they're in attendance) are shown on TV about every 12 seconds.

Yancy Street Gang Apr 05 2007 02:04 PM

The only Yankee games I've seen in the last 20 years or so were games in which they played the Mets.

Nymr83 Apr 05 2007 04:32 PM

metirish wrote: So there are maybe 60+ African Americans in the majors,not a lot ,hardly any are starting pitchers..Willis the only one?.... if you're going by 25 man rosters, 60 would make them 1/15th of the league, probably about their proportion of the population when you take out the spots held by foreigners (which is probably 1/3 of the league at this point) you also have to consider their over-representation in football and basketball- presumably alot of those guys could be playing baseball but chose the other sports

OlerudOwned Apr 05 2007 05:16 PM

Indians' ace C.C. Sabathia has actually been one of the more [url=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2798719]vocal[/url] players on the topic of Blacks in the Major Leagues. Also, I think we forgot Ray Durham.

Nymr83 Apr 05 2007 05:54 PM

if a white NBA player said all that (what Sabathia said) about getting whites involved in basketball again he'd be labelled a racist.

DocTee Apr 05 2007 06:10 PM

African Americans currently comprise a bit under 12% of the general population in the US, so 1/15th of all MLB players would represent a significant down-grade.

Nymr83 Apr 05 2007 06:28 PM

doctee, you're forgetting to discount all the non-americans playing MLB, if you're going to include them you've got to include them in your population too.

G-Fafif Apr 05 2007 07:08 PM

If we are to assume Jackie Robinson's experiences and lessons can be applied universally, it wouldn't be out of line if a non-African-American wore 42 that day. Just sayin'. (Our pal Dave Murray makes the point eloquently from Michigan) http://metsguyinmichigan.blogspot.com/2007/04/im-glad-willie-is-wearing-no-42-i-wish.html

metsguyinmichigan Apr 05 2007 09:40 PM

Thanks, Greg. It's just something I feel strongly about. Jackie is a hero.

metirish Apr 05 2007 10:10 PM

Very nice article Dave..well said.

Nymr83 Apr 05 2007 10:15 PM

] But mandating the districts do something to recognize the day would be a waste. It has to be sincere to have meaning i hate mandating the districts do anything, but changes to the CURRICULUM might be in order... make all the kids writing biography history papers write about someone with they do not share a common race or religion (from the usual approved lists). maybe then the 5th grade white kids will stop writing their 5th paper on george washington and learn about King and the black kids will stop writing their 5th paper on King and learn about Simon Bolivar or something.

Nymr83 Apr 05 2007 10:20 PM

from an anonymous poster on metguy's blog: ]As far as Jackie Robinson is concerned, I agree wholeheartedly he deserves the utmost respect. I think it is interesting he entire Dodger team will don #42. The announcers better know the names of the players i'd love to hear the yankee anouncers do that game, i swear drunky and waldman would be calling the players by position!

Edgy DC Apr 05 2007 11:17 PM

]"They see players like Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado and just assume that they're black." That's because they more or less are, C.C., you Met fan.

Nymr83 Apr 05 2007 11:52 PM

Delgado, at least, is both "African" and "American" (being a citizen of puerto rico)

DocTee Apr 06 2007 12:25 AM

How is Delgado "African"? And he's a resident (or native) of PR, but an American citizen.

Nymr83 Apr 06 2007 12:40 AM

aren't his ancestors Africans who came to puerto rico? yes, he's an american citizen, that makes him "american"

G-Fafif Apr 06 2007 06:58 PM

Recollection on the retirement of Jackie's 42... http://faithandfear.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2007/4/6/2863459.html