April 15, 2026 – day before yesterday – in USA all professional baseball players wore number 42 in their jersey. Why? Here is a short explanation.
There was a famous black baseball player named Jackie Robinson. He was born in 1919 in the USA. He was not allowed to play in the regular Major League Baseball which was reserved only for white players. Jackie Robinson first played in the Negro Leagues for a team called The Kansas City Monarchs.
Jackie was very brave and faced unfair treatment. He helped change sports and made them more equal. People remember him as a hero who brought change. He was admitted into the white boys only Major League Baseball on April 15, 1947. He started to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Per Wikipedia, The Dodgers signing Robinson heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball, which had relegated black players to the Negro Leagues since the 1880s.
Jackie wore jersey number 42. In order to celebrate his joining the Major League Baseball on April 15, 1947, all professional baseball players wore jersey number 42 on April 15, 2026.
After reading about him, I had a few thoughts. India won the cricket World Cup on June 25, 1983 for the first time under the captaincy of Kapil Dev. Unfortunately, in those days Indian players did not wear any number or their names in their jerseys. They first started wearing jerseys in 1992. First time Kapil Dev wore jersey number 2. Why not celebrate winning the cricket world cup in 1983 under the heroic leadership of Kapil Dev by all cricketers wearing jersey number 2 this year on June 25?
Or, how about Tendulkar? He made his test debut on November 15, 1989. He was wearing jersey number 10. How about all cricket players wear Number 10 in their jersey on November 15?
Or is that too much politics and controversy in India?
I do not know anyone in BCCI. If any reader has any contact with BCCI, he/she can take this suggestion to them.
I wonder how you manage to bring up so many stats in ur posts :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Rajesh.
DeleteWhat amazes me is the variety of topics dealt with by SG than related stats.
ReplyDeleteThe incident in the latest post was momentous and memorable for it was end of racial discrimination in sports.
Winning cricket matches is a team work and the credit does not attach to the Captain. Instead the year and month of introduction of ODI and IPL which changed the complexion, popularity and earnings of the game and stakeholders is worthy of printing on jerseys
Thanks for your comments Mr. KP. in my opinion. IPL is a pure business and entertainment. There is no national pride in IPL.
DeleteInteresting point. My opinion is that we haven't had anything here comparable to Jackie Robinson. There are many players and Sachin is one of them. When it comes to the 1983 World Cup victory, it might be unfair to many players if only Kapil Dev is remembered.
ReplyDeleteAmazing blog. I feel, on the basis of first come first served, Kapil should be honoured first though it is a team effort
ReplyDelete