Actor Harrison Ford (left) shakes hands with Los Angeles Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the MLB National League baseball game against the San Diego Padres in Los Angeles, yesterday.
LOS ANGELES: Squaring off for the first time since their brawl, Los Angeles and San Diego were able to set aside any differences and commemorate the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier.
San Diego’s Eric Stults pitched six solid innings and crushed a three-run homer in a 6-3 win a week after a wild melee between the two clubs left Dodger pitcher Zack Greinke with a broken left collarbone.
But the focus at Dodger Stadium was on the baseball Monday and the anniversary of Los Angeles native Robinson becoming the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era.
Hollywood legend Harrison Ford threw out the first pitch and players on both teams wore Robinson’s No. 42.
The on-field ceremony included Robinson’s widow, Rachel, his daughter, Sharon, and son, David, as well as other Major League Baseball and Dodgers dignitaries.
Civil rights pioneer Robinson grew up in nearby Pasadena, California where he attended Pasadena City College before transferring to Los Angeles-based UCLA.
The 70-year-old Ford was also on hand to celebrate the legacy of Robinson. Ford portrays Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey in the movie ‘42’, which chronicles the 1947 breaking of baseball’s color barrier by Robinson. The film opened in American theaters on Friday.
“Jackie Robinson running onto Ebbets Field is not only the most important and powerful moment in baseball history, but it also changed the course of American history,” Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement earlier.
“Jackie’s courage and perseverance made it possible for African Americans and players of all races and ethnicities to compete on the same field.”
Robinson was one of American baseball’s most dynamic players for a decade. The second baseman played in six World Series tournaments and led the Dodgers to the 1955 league championship.
He was chosen for six straight All-Star Games, beginning in 1949, and was named the inaugural MLB Rookie of the Year award winner in 1947.
Dodgers slugger Matt Kemp said Robinson showed great diplomacy when dealing with racial abuse in America during the 1940s.
“He knew how to turn the other cheek. He knew how to walk away from situations,” Kemp said.
Monday’s Robinson ceremony failed to inspire the Dodgers, who lost for the third time in four games despite getting three hits, an RBI and a run scored from Carl Crawford.
Los Angeles’ Chad Billingsley scored three runs on seven hits and two walks over six innings. AFP
