Comedian Name Drops Jackie Robinson

Last week, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver told comedian/radio host Artie Lange that gay players would not be welcome "in the locker room".

Pretty shocking stuff, but, probably, a feeling that Lange feels "reflects what 99% of the league".

Naturally, enter Jackie Robinson.

As we all know by now, Robinson broke baseball's color barrier in 1947 and, as Lange told The Thirty Mile Zone, what football needs a "gay Jackie Robinson...and everything will be fine".

"What’s gonna have to happen is a real star player, a Jackie Robinson-type," Lange said.  "A  real star player is gonna have to come out while he's playing...and other people will follow."

I get what Lange is saying.   And he's right...to a point.

Robinson, and other African-Americans, weren't allowed to play because of the color of their skin. Homosexuals aren't making themselves known because they fear for their safety and, in some cases, lives.

What do you think?

The Trailer for "42" Has Dropped

Is it possible to already be looking forward to next April?

If you're a Boston Red Sox or Chicago Cubs fan...probably.  Your teams are out of it and that's pretty much all you have going for you.  But, April 2013 also marks the time the Jackie Robinson bopic "42" hits theaters.

Last December, news broke that Hollywood hotshot Harrison Ford was tabbed to play legendary executive Branch Rickey.  And as for who is playing Robinson in "42"...that honor goes to the relatively unknown Chadwick Boseman.

Behind the camera is director Brian Helgeland, who, as a screenwriter, penned both “L.A. Confidential" and "Mystic River”. In 1998, Helgeland became the first person to win both an Academy Award ("L.A. Confidential") and a Razzie ("The Postman").

 

This isn't the first time Robinson's story has been brought to the silver screen. In 1950, "The Jackie Robinson Story" was released with Robinson himself playing, um...himself.

Harrison Ford Joins Jackie Robinson Biopic

Hollywood megastar Harrison Ford has been tabbed to play famed baseball executive Branch Rickey in an upcoming biopic about Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson.

According to Variety:

Pic follows the iconic story of Robinson, the first African-American to play in the major leagues. Rickey, the innovative Major League Baseball executive who is best known for breaking MLB's color barrier by signing Jackie Robinson to a minor league contract in 1945. Two years later, at the start of the 1947 major league baseball season, Robinson was signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers major league baseball team with the help of Rickey.

As for who will play Robinson in "42"...that honor goes to the relatively unknown Chadwick Boseman.  Ironically, Boseman also appeared in "The Express"...which was based on the true story of Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.

On tap to direct is Brian Helgeland, whose many screenwriting credits include “L.A. Confidential" and "Mystic River”.  In 1998, Helgeland became the first person to win both an Academy Award ("L.A. Confidential") and a Razzie ("The Postman").

This isn't the first time Robinson's story has been brought to the silver screen.  In 1950, "The Jackie Robinson Story" was released with Robinson himself playing, um...himself. 

It's Jackie Robinson Day, Everybody!

In 1997, Major League Baseball retired Jackie Robinson’s number 42.

Now, I didn’t need to tell any of you that, but did you know that even though teams couldn’t release the number…seven players still wore the number following the league-wide retirement?

Perhaps.

If you’ve ever checked out Craig Robinson’s brilliant website Flip Flop Fly Ball…you’ve no doubt seen his “42” chart. The “infographic” breaks down, by team, the last player to have don the number.

The list is varied and, as you would expect, so are the seven guys who wore the number following the retirement of Jackie Robinson’s iconic 42.

So on this eighth anniversary of “Jackie Robinson Day”…let’s remember the last seven guys to wear 42 in the Majors.

Butch Huskey (1993-2000)
Huskey exploded onto the New York scene in 1996 with the Mets, but never quite lived up to expectations. He was out of baseball before he even turned 30. Thanks to the grandfather clause, Huskey was allowed to wear Number 42 for as long as he wanted…he changed his number to 44 in 1999 while with the Red Sox, but then reverted to 42 with the Twins.

Lenny Webster (1989-2000)
Webster played for five different teams during his 12-year career, but only appeared in more than 100 games in one season…1998 with the Baltimore Orioles. The catcher is the last played to wear Number 42 for the O’s.

Scott Karl (1995-2000)
Primarily a starter throughout his six-year Major League career, Karl is the last player to have worn Number 42 for the Milwaukee Brewers. Most recently, he has been in venture capital.

Mo Vaughn (1991-2003)
Vaughn hit .293 over the span of his 12-year big league career. He hit 328 career home runs, took home the American League MVP in 1995 and has the unique distinction of being the last player to wear Number 42 for three different teams (Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and the, then Anaheim Angels). Currently, “The Hit Dog” is the owner of a trucking company outside of Cleveland.

Michael Jackson (1986-2004)
Journeyman reliever Jackson pitched for eight different teams during his 17-year career. His 1005 games played ranks him 13th all-time among pitchers…three more than Hall of Fame closer Goose Gossage. Jackson is tied with Paul Assenmacher for the most games pitched in the 1990s with 644. He is also the last player to wear Number 42 for the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians.

Jose Lima (1994-2006)
Lima’s personality was much bigger and brighter than his overall game. Sure, he went 21-10 and was an All-Star in 1999, but outside of that…dude was 89-102 with a 5.26 ERA for his career. Sadly, “Lima Time” was cut short when the pitcher dies last May. He was 37-years-old.

Mariano Rivera (1995-Present)
Enter Sandman. Now, if Jackie Robinson is the greatest hitter to have worn Number 42…pitcher Rivera might just be the best player to have worn the number on his back. At 564 career saves, he's 38 saves away from becoming the all-time leader in the category. Can he do it? “Mo” started the season 43 back and that’s a total he's topped six times in his career...so it isn't out of the realm of possibility.

As a sidenote, while baseball has retired Number 42 league-wide for Jackie Robinson…only one team has retired it for someone else.

In 2006, the St. Louis Cardinals retired the number for Hall of Fame closer Bruce Sutter.

Suffice it to say, whenever Rivera decides to hang up the spikes…he’ll have his number retired by the New York Yankees.

You can count on it.

Below is the graph listed above.  Click that sucker to make it bigger!

Junior and Ichiro...beyond the numbers

A day after the Majors celebrated his legacy, it is important to point out that if you walk around any ballpark in the Majors, you’ll see Jackie Robinson’s 42 retired.

It’s true.

Since they retired it on April 15, 1997, no team has issued the number and outside of yesterday when EVERYONE wore it…only Mariano Rivera wears it on his back and that's because he's had it since before no one could.

Up in the Pacific Northwest...Robinson’s 42 is the ONLY number retired.

Sure, Ken Griffey Jr’s 24 and Ichiro’s 51 (also shared by Randy Johnson) will eventually make their way up to the rafters of Safeco Field.

And even though they have resisted handing out a few others...the Mariners have not yet retired any other number.

It is fitting that the Seattle faithful had something to cheer about on the anniversary of retiring Robinson's number.

Let me lay it out for ya.

In 2000, while with the Reds, Griffey became the youngest player to hit 400 home runs. Last night, back with the Mariners, Griffey hit number 400 for the Mariners. Sure, the next guy on the Mariners leader board is Jay Buhner with 309, so it is a no-brainer that Griffey’s 400 leads the pack.

And of the 43 players with more than 400 home runs for their career…more than half (23) have 400 or more with one team.

So…why was Griffey’s blast off of Angels hurler Jared Weaver yesterday worth noting?

Well, and I realize that I missed this when I did the AL West Milestone Preview a few weeks back, Griffey is now the ONLY player in Major League history with 400 home runs with one team and 200 or more with another.

"It means a lot. It's just, I don't worry about numbers," Griffey told the Associated Press. "You play long enough, you are going to rack up some numbers…some are good, some are bad.”

Also last night, Griffey and teammates welcomed Ichiro back to the lineup. And, not to be left out…he, too, hit a monumental home run.

With a seventh inning grand slam off Jason Bulger, Ichiro tied Isao Harimoto as Japan’s all-time hits leader.

Elected into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990, Harimoto amassed all of his 3085 hits playing in Japan. Ichiro, obviously, has split his.

The first 1278 came with the Japan’s Orix Blue Wave from 1992 to 2000. The rest (all 1807 of them) have come with Seattle.

Harimoto told MLB.com that Ichiro's hit total should be considered a record even though some of them didn't come in Japan.

And I couldn’t agree more.

Last August, I wrote THIS and now, eight months later…I couldn’t agree more.

Seattle Mariners official team policy states that number retirement is reserved for players in the National Baseball Hall of Fame who played for at least five years with the Mariners, or career Mariners players who narrowly miss election.

Something tells me that regardless of how Griffey and Ichiro end up (and I presume they will BOTH be Hall of Famers)…the Seattle brass will hang their numbers alongside that of Jackie Robinson.