Nope, me either.

A) Yes, I don't think that outside the Dodgers organization that they need to be honoring Robinson every single year. Man, he was a great guy and meant a lot, but it's gone over the line of overkill. Does the NBA or NFL honor their first black player every single year. Do you know who the second black player was? He was Larry Doby, played for the Indians and came into the league less than a year after Robinson. He was a CONSTANT all-star. He was a fan favorite. Take a look at his early stats, he was a super star too, but because he was a few months late nobody cares... http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dobyla01.shtml

B) The way in which the honor him is in horriblly poor taste. Putting the number 42 on every single player's back is extraordinarilly confusing to the fans watching the game. "Hey, who just hit that single?" Well I don't know either cause every fracking guy on both teams has the same number. If you have seats anywhere but the front row you've got to check the board every ten seconds to make sure.

I say the Dodgers do it every year and the rest of baseball does it every 5 or 10 years. That way it MEANS more than the annual, OMG I can't tell who is who because they are all wearing 42 event.

Plus IMO it is bad for baseball to constantly be looking back rather than forward. Focus on making keystone players and memories in TODAY rather than constantly be drudging up players like Robinson and Mantle all the time. The NLF has made football the biggest sport in America by building a game around what is going on TODAY. THey live in the now, not 65 years ago.

Actually Larry Doby also entered the league in 1947. The same year as Robinson.

Doby: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dobyla01.shtml

Robinson: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/robinja02.shtml

I totally agree with you, it's gotten ridiculous. What next, they remove secondbase for the game in honor of him?

Putting 42 on all the players was only done this year.

No it wasn't. I've seen that for the past few years, at least.

You guys need to get your history straight. Its been done since 1997 the 50th anniversary of the event. Its done every year on April 15 at whatever ballparks have games that day....so it isn't always celebrated at Coors Field every year.

The reason it is such a big deal is this.....yesterday at the game sitting behind us was a young boy and his father. I kept hearing the boy ask his dad why every player was wearing #42 that it was confusing, etc. The father took his time to explain to his young son the story of Jackie Robinson and his impact on the game and why it is celebrated.

Without all the players wearing #42 that discussion may have never taken place. It reminds us of what brought us to this place and it is imperative that history be passed along just as it was from this father (who probably learned it from his father) to his son.....the way it ought to be!

But you forget that baseball is a game and not a history lesson. This is why the NFL is exploding and MLB is so flat.

Do you know what really happened that day? That kid went to see a game with his dad, was horriblly confused by all the players having the same number, and as a result might not have enjoyed the finer points of that game. Result? Sure, maybe now he knows who the heck Robinson was, but at the cost of what might have been a magical moment that made him a lifelong fan.

I think you missed a very tender moment that you now are twisting into something that simply is speculation. The reason MLB does what it does on April 15th is because they always want to remember Mr. Robinson. By creating this tradition it pretty much insures he will never be forgotten.

I certainly stand corrected on the point of all the players wearing 42 previously...guess it just slipped my memory. In any event, I think that Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color barrier is an important enough event not just in the history of baseball, but of our nation in general that it is well worth commemorating every year. I can certainly remember in my own lifetime when many southern universities would not permit African-American athletes on their teams and even had signficant objections to playing against teams that had them. It wasn't THAT long ago. So it is certainly a moment in time to be celebrated for the first step forward in a long march that it represents. I'm only sad I couldn't have been there myself this year.

Could not have said it better myself, saturn. It's much too easy to forget the efforts of those that pioneered the way for others. A tradition such as Jackie Robinson Day is best celebrated in person. I was thinking as we were driving back to Wyoming this morning that had I not been there I would have missed this young father's explanation of why we observe this tradition to his inquisitive son. It made my trip worth every bit of the cold 2 days at Coors Field!

I certainly salute your endurance of those two days...I can imagine it was pretty trying out there at times. I really would have loved to be there Sunday, but can't risk adding to my health issues at this point, although I am pleased to note that things have improved signficantly the last few days.

Certainly is good news. Before you know it you'll be back at the ballpark! My wife and I are rethinking any future games in April this year or next!

We hesitate to do April games, although we've run into some pretty tough weather even in June. I was cold to the bone the first week of June when we went to Boston in 2007. In fact, as I remember, when the Red Sox made their first trip to Denver in June of 2004, the had some pretty miserable, drizzly weather the third game of that series. But I think by the next homestand, we may make our first appearance of the year.

Well it may be important etc, etc, etc... but I sure as heck am not going to pay to go to the ball park on that date just to see a mash up the number 42 on every back.

Certainly is your choice to stay home and I respect your opinion, etc., etc.....but I'll go every April 15th that I can!

If you enjoy a nice boring history lesson that's fine, but it's things like that which keep baseball unappealing to today's youth. That's what the History Channel is for...

Sounds to me like you need to watch the Histrory channel once in a while. Perhaps your arguments would be more than speculation.

So the idea is to confuse children into finding out about Robinson? Make the game so confusing and hard to follow for children that they have to ask why everyone is stupidly wearing 42?

That is not sound logic.

Logic has nothing to do with it, zito. Its about remembering an historic occasion....if you don't like it then take it up with MLB. They must have thought it was worth remebering or they wouldn't have done it.