LOS ANGELES -- Gathering at the Jackie Robinson statue in Centerfield Plaza has become a special annual tradition for the Dodgers every April 15, when the baseball world observes the anniversary of Robinson breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier.
For the third year in a row, the visiting team joined in, with all Dodgers and Rockies players and personnel suiting up in full uniform on Tuesday afternoon with the league-wide retired No. 42 on their backs as they reflected on what Robinson's story means in today's world.
Seventy-eight years after Robinson became the first Black player in AL/NL history with the Brooklyn Dodgers, manager Dave Roberts wanted to impart a key message to both clubs, as well as the Jackie Robinson Foundation scholars in attendance: It takes more than one day a year to honor Robinson's legacy.
"This is not a one-day situation," Roberts said. "It's Jackie Robinson's day for breaking the color barrier, but this is like an everyday sort of mindset, appreciation."
Breaking a barrier is no simple feat. Robinson endured racism and discrimination in order to pave the way for people of color in baseball and beyond, among them Roberts, who is one of two active Black managers in the big leagues. It's something that the Dodgers' skipper keeps in mind on Jackie Robinson Day.
"What he had to endure. What he had to go through. The hate. To continue to persevere for the greater good," Roberts said. "I think that now, context on what's hard in life individually is not even close to what was happening in the '60s and the '70s and beyond, much earlier."
Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who also addressed the Dodgers and Rockies in front of Robinson's statue on Tuesday afternoon, counted Robinson among his heroes.
Abdul-Jabbar considered himself fortunate to have had a relationship with Robinson. When Abdul-Jabbar was in high school, he received a letter from Robinson urging him to consider playing for his alma mater, UCLA. In 1970, after Abdul-Jabbar had won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, he met Robinson in person for the first time. Abdul-Jabbar still keeps a photo of himself, Robinson and Celtics legend Bill Russell from that day.
The connection goes back even deeper. Abdul-Jabbar was born one day after Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, and he experienced how the act changed the world he grew up in firsthand.
"People who were interested in that knew that one significant aspect of segregation had just been eliminated, and Black Americans were proud of it," Abdul-Jabbar said. "My mom didn't know much about the game. But because of all the attention that Jackie got, we started listening to the games on the radio when I was about 2 years old. And it was very important to me that Jackie’s team won."
Robinson's influence for Abdul-Jabbar went beyond what he did on the field. Abdul-Jabbar recounted the story of Robinson refusing to move to the back of a bus during his days in the U.S. military, which resulted in a court-martial and eventual acquittal. Robinson received an honorable discharge and then, as Abdul-Jabbar put it, "started getting ready to do what he had to do on the field for kids like me."
Hearing about Robinson's legacy from someone who had known him personally resonated with those gathered at the statue on Tuesday.
"Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, what a treat that was for so many of us," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "And [for] him to share stories of his relationship with Jackie, and what Jackie meant to him as a young man. …
"I think what's great is the national scope of this day, across the baseball landscape. And also, our country, who follow baseball and what this game means, and what Jackie meant, just socially and culturally to our country."
To Abdul-Jabbar, remembering Robinson every April 15 is an act that goes beyond his legacy on the baseball diamond. It's also about recognizing what Robinson went through in order to ensure that he would leave the door open for others like him.
"It means that Jackie had an idea of what we had to confront. We had to confront segregation. And in many ways, we’re still confronting it. But it’s worth it," Abdul-Jabbar said. "And it certainly makes people respect us as a country when they see that there is some tension there, and good people are trying to do the right thing.”