April 15, 1947

Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion, you're wasting your life. - Jackie Robinson

Most of us were not alive in 1947. You would have to be in your late 60s to have even the foggiest memories of those days, but we only need books and video to know that baseball, and sports in general, were white men's occupations in the middle of the 20th century.

In those days, Major league baseball was played by 16 teams. In 1946, the National League pennant was won by the St. Louis Cardinals, who beat out the Brooklyn Dodgers by 2 games and went on to beat the Red Sox in the World Series.

That was the Cardinals team with players like Enos Slaughter, Joe Garagiola, Stan Musial and Dick Sisler. They also had 3 guys named "Red" and other players with names like Emil, Marty, Nippy, Blix and 2 guys named Del.

That summer, Jackie Robinson was playing minor league baseball with the Montreal Royals in the International League, and on April 1, 1947 he was signed by the Dodgers, with the intent of having him play in the Major Leagues.

Before that, Jackie played a season in the old Negro League. He wasn't their best player. Most people say that Monte Irvin was, but what Jackie had, in addition to talent was inner strength. In order to make the integration of baseball successful, the first black player would have to be strong enough to survive the taunts and physical threats of not only the fans, but some of his fellow players. That is what made Jackie so special. He recognized his place in history and realized that it was about more than just baseball.

On April 15, 1947, Jackie made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in a game against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field. In October, they were playing the Yankees in the World Series, having won the National League pennant by 5 games, partly on the strength of Robinson's .297 batting average, 31 doubles and league-leading 29 stolen bases.

In those days, baseball was truly America's Pastime. The NFL existed, but it was a blip on the sports radar. Basketball and hockey were even less influential. Baseball was as romantic and immensely popular as James Earl Jones made it sound in his monologue in Field of Dreams. When I power-up my Delorian to 85mph, one of the days I am going to set it on is April 14, 1947. I want to be around on the 15th to feel all of those emotions that people were feeling then. Excitement, rage, anticipation, happiness and fear. Fear both for Jackie and fear for people whose ignorance did not allow them to know that being small-minded is no way to go through life.

What is sad is that it is sixty years later and we still run into people who think that way. What was truly exciting was that there was change coming. It was the good kind of change. The kind of change that makes people want to see it and be a part of it. It gave a lot of people hope and even though it did not change the way many people thought about racial differences, it gave people of color a symbol that their hopes and dreams could be realized. That's where it stopped being about baseball.

On Sunday, Major League baseball will honor Jackie. The Phillies are playing a game at Citizen's Bank Ballpark against the Houston Astros, and once again, baseball isn't the big story. Every Phillies player will wear number 42 in honor of Jackie.

Ironically, Philadelphia was one of the places where Jackie faced his toughest test, and the Phillies were one of the last to bring a black player to their team. His number has already been retired by the league, and they are wearing it now in his honor.

Even if you are not a baseball fan, make a point to check out your local telecast. Teams around the league are doing their own tributes to Robinson.

Sometimes, there are things on TV that are worth watching.

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