Rangers, Dodgers Honor the Legacy of Jackie Robinson to Open Weekend Series

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers (11-19) are set to welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers (24-9) for a three-game series beginning on Friday night at Globe Life Field.

Friday is also when Jackie Robinson Day will be celebrated this season. The commemoration is usually held on April 15, the anniversary of when Robinson played his first MLB game in 1947. Instead, Friday marks the 75th anniversary of the date Robinson first met with Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey about breaking baseball’s color barrier and signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The Rangers and Dodgers collaborated, putting together a video package in honor of Jackie Robinson's legacy.

Life. Leadership. Legacy.@Dodgers x Rangers x #Jackie42 pic.twitter.com/mAEgn8KLJO
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) August 28, 2020

“For me, coming from a Hispanic background, a Hispanic family, I wouldn't been able to play this game if it wasn't for Jackie Robinson," Rangers catcher Jose Trevino said. "Today we celebrate him. We play for Jackie. We thank Jackie and his family. I think it's a good time for baseball right now to be celebrating and playing for Jackie Robinson today.”

Friday is also the 57th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech,” which he delivered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., in 1963.

The Rangers are coming off a day when they were set to finish their four-game series with the Oakland Athletics, but the game was postponed when the A's announced they would not be taking the field to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

The shooting has taken the sports world by storm, with many athletes speaking out against racial injustice. Multiple games in multiple sports leagues have been postponed for the same reason and have caused quite a stir on social media.

Needless to say, the past 24-48 hours have been filled with a lot of emotion.

“A lot of reflection. A lot of looking in the mirror," said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. A lot of, ‘are we doing the right thing? Or am I doing the right thing? Are we talking enough about it? Are we talking too much about it?’ Just everything. I think there's a lot of pain. I personally feel a lot of pain. And I'm trying to put myself in a lot of people's shoes right now, and just kind of feel their own pain. I think we all need to be empathetic to what's happening and how people are feeling.

"A lot of times I don't know what to think. I’m trying to guide a group of men to be in a better spot as a result of this, or to just address things that are tough to address. It's difficult, it's not easy. But at the end of the day, I'm trying to lead with my heart and do the right thing. There's a lot of guys in that locker room that feel the same way. There’s a lot of guys on the coaching staff that are doing that as well."

To add to that, Rangers manager Chris Woodward is preparing to host the Dodgers—a team with the best record in baseball and where he was a coach for three years. It is also the same franchise Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with in 1947.

73 years later, many Black athletes are still fighting for equality and racial justice in the United States.

"It's going to take all of us together, honestly, to get through this in a positive light and help in any way possible," Woodward said. "This is definitely an issue that's bigger than baseball. To have Jackie Robinson day be today is pretty significant. I think it's something higher up that Jackie Robinson Day just happened to be today to make us all aware.”

Robinson’s No. 42 is retired all throughout baseball and every player wears his number on Jackie Robinson Day in honor of him.

The Rangers will wear their alternate red Friday jerseys tonight when all MLB teams wear #42 to honor Jackie Robinson. pic.twitter.com/pTSAG1qbjE
— John Blake (@RangerBlake) August 28, 2020

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