April 15th looms large on the baseball calendar. On this day in 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the sport’s color barrier. The anniversary of the occasion marks a time to celebrate Robinson’s life and legacy. It also hopefully leads to some introspection on how far baseball has come, as well as the work yet to do.
The Yankees have the day off, so the ceremonies will have to wait. The team will wear special No. 42 uniforms tomorrow instead. Several players, however, didn’t wait. They took to social media to express their gratitude and indebtedness to Robinson.
Here are a few that stood out:
Thank you for changing ⚾️ forever. #Jackie42 ✊
— Sir Didi Gregorius (@DidiG18) April 15, 2019
Jackie, thank you for everything you did and went through. You made it possible for me to live my ⚾️ dream! #JackieRobinsonDay #Jackie42 pic.twitter.com/gKLKE7mc50
— CC Sabathia (@CC_Sabathia) April 15, 2019
We can’t thank you enough. #Jackie42 pic.twitter.com/1pKQz88c78
— Dellin Betances (@DBetances68) April 15, 2019
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to play this game #JackieRobinson #42
— Aaron Hicks (@AaronHicks31) April 15, 2019
While we will don the 42 in our game tomorrow night, we join the rest of @MLB in honoring Jackie Roosevelt Robinson today, on the 72nd anniversary of his Major League debut. Thank you, Jackie. #Jackie42 pic.twitter.com/YAdWAoMwnW
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 15, 2019
Expect more messages to pour in later. We’ll keep tabs on them as well. In the meantime, what does Jackie Robinson mean to you? Let us know in the comment section below!