Baseball 42

The Number 42

The number 42 is a revered number in Major League Baseball. It has been worn by many legends of the game including Jackie Robinson and Mariano Rivera. While both Mariano and Jackie played during totally different time periods in baseball, both left an eternal mark on the sport. There will never be another player who wears 42 because the MLB has retired the number across the league. Jackie Robinson was the first African American baseball player in the Major Leagues. Many other black legends came before him but all were confined to the Negro Leagues due to racial segregation. Jackie 'broke the color barrier' that existed in American professional sports before him. The racism and hatred did not end as soon as Jackie appeared in the pros. Jackie withstood many years of racial abuse. He often was not allowed in team hotels, restaurants, airplanes, and other public places that his team frequented. Other teams and fans harrassed him constantly on and off the field trying to get him to snap and lash out at the racial abusers. But he held his tongue and used his incredible athletic abilities on the field to prove his point, that he deserved to be on those fields just as much as anyone else. Jackie admitted later in his life that the hardest thing he ever had to do was keep his anger in check when the racial slurs turned toward his wife and kids. He said that he could withstand the abuse about him and his race, but when his family was attacked it took all his strength to hold back and not "pop them right in the nose". It took months for even Jackie's own teammates to accept him and even longer for opposing players. However, after a long and hard rookie year, Major League Baseball recognized Jackie efforts by awarding him the prestigious Rookie of the Year award. Of course, Jackie earned every vote for the award, hitting .338 with 10 home runs and 54 stolen bases including 2 steals of home. He also had the most hit by pitches, an astounding 74! That means he was hit by a pitch an average of once every two games! After another two years, Jackie was joined by two other black players on the Dodgers and the league began to integrate with both young black athletes as well as Negro League stars. After playing for 10 full seasons and earning a world series ring, Jackie Robinson retired from professional baseball and turned his attention towards civil rights actions, joining the estemed Martin Luther King Jr. and his non-violent approach toward desegregation. He is the only player to have his number retired across the entire league. Mariano Rivera was the greatest closer of all time. He had the most saves ever, 638, and the most postseason saves, an ironic 42, which is more than double the next pitcher. He won five world series rings with the New York Yankees from 1995-2013. Amazingly his teams won three rings in a row (1998-2000) to go with his rings in 1996 and 2009. He played with three other players almost his entire career, which is extremely rare. These fellow teammates were Jorge Posada (1996-2011), Andy Pettite (1995-2002, 2005-2010, 2012-2013), and the legendary Derek Jeter (1995-2013). Those four players were nicknamed the 'Core Four' during this Yankee dynsasty. He played in a total of seven world series, which is a record for a relief pitcher on one team. However, he did not break into the Major Leagues as a closer. In 1995, Mariano Rivera made the Yankees big league squad as the fifth starting pitcher in the rotation. After having a rough first half of the year (going 5-11 with a miserable 5.45 ERA), the New York Yankees moved him to the set-up pitcher role. He excelled in this role, paving the road for his success from the bullpen. After his rookie year Mariano was moved to the closer role. From that point on he was the most dominant pitcher in the league for nearly the next two decades. Most pitchers that appear in the big leagues have 3-5 pitches such as a fastball, curveball, change-up, slider, splitter, sinker, or even a knuckleball. Normally, pitchers use the element of surprise to trick batters into guessing at what pitch is coming. But not Mariano, he did it with just his cutter. Every hitter that ever went up to bat against him knew exactly what was coming and still couldn't hit it...