Most, if not all major league baseball stadiums have on display the numbers of players that have been retired. Because the Arizona Diamondbacks are a relatively young team they have only one retired number, that of Luis Gonzales. When you walk in the stadium and look above the right field fence you'll see Gonzo's #20 prominently displayed.
But there is one more number on display - 42. Major League baseball retired that number in 1997. That's the uniform number of Jackie Robinson.
I will never look at that number in quite the same way ever again.
My dear, sweet wife and I watched the movie, "42," last weekend. It is an amazing story, expertly told.
Robinson played a little before my time. I didn't really start following baseball until about the time Robinson retired. I knew he broke the color barrier for baseball and helped to make it possible for other black athletes to play in something other than the Negro baseball leagues.
But I didn't fully appreciate or even understand the kind of abuse he suffered - from the general public, from baseball fans, from other players (including his own teammates) and from managers of other teams.
"42" is not so much a movie about baseball as it is about pride and perseverance. The determination of Robinson to go out and do his job in the face of such prejudice and hatred was inspirational. The same goes for Branch Rickey, who would not bend in his belief that all players, no matter their color, should be given the same opportunities to play the game.
If you haven't seen "42" yet, check it out. It is an amazing story.
