Some revolutions are big from the very start. When Jackie Robinson signed on the dotted line at Branch Rickey¡¯s office on Montague Street in Brooklyn on August 28, 1945, there was no going back. It was either going to be a spectacular success, or a crushing setback. But Rickey believed correctly that he had found the right man, and more significantly, Jackie possessed the inner fortitude to achieve what had been to that point inconceivable.
Other revolutions have more modest beginnings. On April 15, 1997, as Commissioner Bud Selig retired Robinson¡¯s number across the entire sport to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his first game with the Dodgers, then-Mariners superstar Ken Griffey Jr. took the field with the 2 and 4 flip-flopped on his No. 24 jersey.
Ten years later Griffey would request to wear No. 42 again, and a handful of players followed suit. A year after that, Griffey celebrated the occasion with his 595th career homer. And then two years later in 2009, Commissioner Selig announced that everyone in the entire sport would wear it on Jackie Robinson Day every single year.
Many people credit Griffey for planting the seeds for a tribute that has stood and will continue to stand the test of time. But leave it to someone who typically describes himself as ¡°a normal dad with an abnormal job¡± to keep things in perspective.
¡°The way I look at it, this is what we¡¯re supposed to do,¡± Griffey told MLB.com on Saturday, after photographing The Masters for Getty Images. ¡°This isn't a Ken Griffey thing. This is a baseball thing. I just happened to be the guy that brought it to everybody's attention. But this is what baseball needed to do.¡±
In that sense, this year¡¯s commemorative cleat for Jackie Robinson Day, based on Nike¡¯s classic Griffey 2 MCS model, carries a few layers of significance. There have been several Griffey JRD editions over the years, fitting given its namesake¡¯s history on the occasion. But the main design feature on the 2025 model, side panels with No. 42 in every team¡¯s font, connotes a day in which the entire sport walks a mile in Jackie¡¯s shoes. (A special version of the Nike Cortez with the same design cues releases at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday on the Nike SNKRS app, while the cleats and a selection of apparel drop at Nike.com at the same time.)
¡°Over the last few years, we¡¯ve really sat down and said, let¡¯s pick certain things that have happened,¡± Griffey said. ¡°One year it was his military service, the other was the [Brooklyn] colorway. When he played for the UCLA Bruins, we had that colorway.
¡°So it is not just one thing that we have. It¡¯s a collection of amazing things that people really associate with Jackie Robinson.¡±
Griffey¡¯s initial tribute in 1997 was in part inspired by his father, three-time All-Star Ken Griffey Sr., who began to educate his son at the age of 9 about Robinson and others who helped pave the way. Junior specifically cites Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson and Mickey Mantle as cherished figures whom we need to continue to celebrate and learn from long after they¡¯ve left us.
This, of course, is what Jackie Robinson Day is all about: Everyone takes a beat to honor his legacy, while taking the opportunity to spread his message of strength, grace and inclusion. And of course, the famed No. 42 is everywhere you look, from head to toe.
¡°I think there was an uplift for a lot of the guys at the clubhouse,¡± said former Yankees and Mets reliever Dellin Betances about wearing Robinson¡¯s number, ¡°just a feeling that we knew if it wasn't for what [Jackie] did, his heroics, we wouldn't be able to play this game. So any time you were able to wear that number is a special moment and feeling for us players.¡±
Betances, a member of the Commissioner¡¯s Ambassador Program, will spend Tuesday at the Jackie Robinson Museum in New York, which is hosting participants from local Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities programs, before heading to Yankee Stadium for the festivities there.
¡°Being able to tap in the inner cities and show kids the true meaning of what Jackie Robinson Day is, allowing them to see somebody that's had success that kind of grew up in their shoes -- I think it goes a long way,¡± Betances said. ¡°And that's what I try to do as much as I can is tap into the community I grew up in and give kids a sense of hope that they have a chance to follow this profession, and maybe one day it becomes a reality for them.¡±
Griffey, too, remains an outstanding ambassador for the national pastime. As a player, his perfect swing and unbridled joy made him the most magnetic player in MLB, his Swingman logo as ubiquitous in his sport as Michael Jordan¡¯s Jumpman was in his. A decade after Junior cruised into the Baseball Hall of Fame, he remains one of baseball¡¯s most recognizable figures, with those who witnessed his excellence in real time passing down stories and his iconic Upper Deck card to those who didn¡¯t. His ever-popular sneakers represent yet another way to connect with a new generation, not to mention to expose younger fans to Jackie¡¯s story at the same time.
As such, when Griffey stages clinics for youth coaches and tournaments for ballplayers from Historically Black Colleges & Universities, he is endeavoring to open doors the way Jackie and other predecessors did for him.
¡°It's always a responsibility to pay it forward when it comes to the game that you love,¡± Griffey said. ¡°I mean, what do they always say? You want to leave this world better than when you got here.
¡°And it's the same in sports. I want to leave my sport better than when I started.¡±