Jackie Robinson’s 75th Anniversary MLB Debut Gets National Marketing, Activation
Tuesday, March 29, 2022 at 09:44PM By Barry Janoff
UPDATED March 31, 2022: To commemorate the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s first regular-season game with the Brooklyn Dodgers to break the MLB color barrier — April 15, 1947 — MLB, the Jackie Robinson Foundation, the U.S. Mint, ESPN, the Los Angeles Dodgers, LeBron James and others are planning to activate via multi-media and in-person platforms.
MLB retired Robinson’s No. 42 number throughout the Majors in 1997, dedicated April 15 as Jackie Robinson Day annually in 2004, and since 2009 has requested that every player and all on-field personnel wear his No. 42 during games scheduled on Jackie Robinson Day.
ESPN today unveiled a special project to honor Robinson’s lasting legacy, “Jackie to Me,” which will also “showcase the continued work of Robinson’s wife Rachel as she approaches her 100th birthday (July 19).”
Beginning April 4, the season-long project will initially encompass a ten-plus part short story video series, with a video to premiere each day, culminating with the final debut on the 75th anniversary on April 15.
“Jackie to Me” features interviews with athletes and public figures talking about Robinson’s “many legacies and lasting impact across generations.”
Those interviewed for the project include Tim Anderson, Bobby Bradford, Ruby Bridges, Chuck D, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Billie Jean King, Willie O’Ree and Robinson’s son David.
The videos will air across SportsCenter, Get Up and First Take, with a full day of content across shows on the April 15 anniversary date.
The videos will continue to be showcased across ESPN’s MLB and studio programming, as well as ESPN Audio content and the network’s YouTube and social media channels.
“It is an honor to oversee this initiative highlighting the impact of Jackie Robinson through comprehensive coverage of the 75th anniversary,” David Roberts, ESPN head of NBA and studio production, said via the network.
“Jackie opened doors for African Americans and all other minority groups in every profession up to and including the President of the United States. That’s why it is extremely important his lasting legacy is recognized and never forgotten.”
On April 15, ESPN’s college baseball coverage will honor the 75th anniversary with five games across four networks, culminating with Stanford vs. UCLA in Jackie Robinson Stadium, Los Angeles (ESPN2, 10 PM ET).
As a student-athlete at UCLA (1939-41), Robinson became the Bruins' first four-sport letterman, playing football, basketball, track and baseball. A bronze statue of Robinson. located on the concourse level, was dedicated on April 27, 1985,
Heritage Auctions last month held an auction with Robinson items, including a ticket stub from Robinson’s MLB debut in 1947 that sold for $480,000.
On July 26, The Jackie Robinson Museum is scheduled to open at One Hudson Square in New York City.
The 19,380 square foot space will include more than 4,500 artifacts, 40,000 historical images and 450-plus hours of video footage “exploring Robinson’s unwavering commitment to social justice and equal opportunity.”
First Take with Stephen A. Smith and host Molly Qerim will be live from the Jackie Robinson Museum opening with special guests in person throughout the show. Live reports from the Museum will also be seen across editions of SportsCenter throughout the day.
The Jackie Robinson Foundation said Chock full o'Nuts coffee is launching three sizes of limited-edition Jackie Robinson Chock full o'Nuts coffee cans in stores and online, hitting retail in April, with a portion of the proceeds from each purchase being donated to the JRF (pictured below).
Upon Robinson's retiring from baseball, William Black, founder of Chock full o'Nuts, signed him to become an executive at the New York-based coffee company, where he served as vp-personnel from 1957 until 1964.
The Dodgers will be at home in Dodgers Stadium on April 15 hosting the Cincinnati Reds.
The first item on the 2022 Dodgers promotions and giveaways schedule is a commemorative Jackie Robinson jersey, available to people in attendance (while supplies last).
The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, in partnership with the City of Compton, Kershaw’s Challenge and the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation are building a multi-million-dollar Dodgers Dreamfields complex at Gonzales Park in Compton.
The New York Mets home opener in Citi Field (hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks) will include an on-field program as well as a ceremony in the 19,000 square-foot Jackie Robinson Rotunda, which features a nine-foot tall sculpture of Robinson's retired number, as well as pictures and quotes commemorating his life.
The Mets that day will also unveil a statue at Citi Field honoring the late Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, a member of the 1969 World Series champs who pitched for the team from 1967-77 and 1983.
In production is After Jackie, a two-hour documentary from LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s Uninterrupted and Firelight Films in association with MLB and collaboration with The Jackie Robinson Foundation, under the auspices of A+E Networks and The History Channel.
After Jackie will “honor and celebrate Black baseball players who followed in Robinson’s footsteps after he broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers,” including Curt Flood, Bob Gibson and Bill White..
The United States Mint recently opened sales for the 2022 Negro Leagues Baseball Commemorative Coin Program.
The program commemorates the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Negro National League, with the U.S. Mint producing $5 gold coins, $1 silver coins and half dollar clad coins as part of the series.
A Jackie Robinson silver medal (pictured) carries the same design as the Jackie Robinson Congressional Gold Medal produced by the Mint in 2003, which “honored Robinson as a baseball great, civil rights leader, and political activist.”
In 1945, Robinson played his only season in black baseball as a shortstop with the Kansas City Monarchs.
Money raised after the cost of making the coins will go to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, located in Kansas City, MO.
The Georgia Historical Society, in conjunction with MLB and the Jackie Robinson Cairo Memorial Institute, recently dedicated two historical markers at Robinson’s birthplace in Grady County.
The marker at Robinson’s birthplace (County Route 154 in Cairo) was replaced after the original was vandalized by gunfire last year. A new, duplicate historical marker is located at the Roddenbery Memorial Library in downtown Cairo.
The Smithsonian's National Postal Museum in Washington DC is hosting "Baseball: America's Home Run," an exhibit (April 9-Jan. 5, 2025), which commemorates the game via hundreds of U.S. and international stamps commemorating great players and historic moments, game-used memorabilia and other baseball collectables and artifacts.
According to the National Postal Museum, of the more than 60 baseball stamps issued by the United States since 1939, the vast majority commemorate individual players. They include Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Lefty Grove and Lou Gehrig,
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