Angels’ outfielder Torii Hunter recently had this to say about so many teams sporting No. 42 jerseys for baseball’s annual Jackie Robinson Day:
This is what Los Angeles Angels outfield Torii Hunter said, to USA Today: “This is supposed to be an honor, and just a handful of guys wearing the number. Now you’ve got entire teams doing it. I think we’re killing the meaning. It should be special wearing Jackie’s number, not just because it looks cool.”
What upset Hunter, he says now, was this: The Houston Astros had no black players on their team last April, and yet the entire team wore No. 42. Said Hunter: “That got it away from, ‘OK, we don’t have any blacks,’ ” he said. To Hunter, a roster with no black players did not represent the progress for which Robinson stood, and baseball celebrated according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.
I obviously can’t speak for everyone, but I’d like to assume that any player that wears No. 42 on that day is doing so in tribute to Robinson and not because “it looks cool.” I could be naïve here, but I’d like to think that baseball players understand the importance of what Robinson did for the game and donning his number on your back should be done with the utmost respect.
What do you think? Does Hunter have a point?
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