Terry Francona Shared Sobering Thoughts About Jackie Robinson Day

Jackie Robinson Day began with a request by Ken Griffey Jr. asking baseball commissioner Bud Selig if he could wear Robinson’s retired number 42.

In honor of the 60th anniversary of Robinson’s Brooklyn Dodger debut on April 15, 1947, Selig gave his blessings. The day has been commemorated in such a fashion that every player would wear number 42 on April 15.

Griffey Jr. sponsored a baseball series for historically black colleges. His adopted son, Tevin, played football at Florida A&M, which is one of them.

Terry Francona believes the world would be a better place if people could see how a major league clubhouse interacts with all the various ethnic groups that prepare to work as a team.

“It is part of what I love about our game. I think the world could learn some lessons by coming into a major league clubhouse,” Francona said. “Once you’re here it’s us.”

Working for a common purpose draws people closer.

What bothered Francona is that it shouldn’t be necessary to celebrate a fix to a problem that should never have existed in the first place.

“I want to be careful how I say this,” said Francona when asked about Jackie Robinson day. “It is an honor to wear this number to honor Jackie. I want to be careful about celebrating and treating people equally. It is humiliating the fact that we have to do it. We should be ashamed of ourselves. But what he endured and the guts (it took) and all that’s what I hope we think about today. I hope we just remember the right things. I think it’s a shame that this had to happen. The fact that he had the courage to do what he did is what I think is important.”