Jackie Robinson Day festivities included Reggie Smith, Dr. Harry Edwards & video tribute to Rachel Robinson

LOS ANGELES — Monday marked the 77th anniversary of Jackie Robinson making his debut with the Dodgers, and Robinson was celebrated throughout Major League Baseball, with all uniformed personnel wearing number 42 in his honor.

At Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers hosted the Nationals, and prior to the game Magic Johnson was on field to introduce a video tribute to Rachel Robinson, Jackie’s widow who is now 101 years old.

In the video, titled “Dear Rachel,” Mookie Betts, Jason Heyward, Dave Roberts, Dusty Baker, James Loney, Jerry Hairston Jr., Billie Jean King, Stan Kasten, Dr. Harry Edwards, Dodgers Foundation CEO Nichol Whiteman, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass were among those who spoke.

“You have been the backbone of that family for so many years,” said Roberts in the video.

“Jackie and you stand for so much,” King said. “But every time I see the number 42, it stands for freedom and equality for everyone. The contributions that both of you have made will stand forever.”

During the game, in between innings, a few more videos played, in which Betts, Heyward, and Whiteman expounded on what Rachel and Jackie Robinson meant to them.

About four hours before the pregame festivities on the field, Dodgers and Nationals players and coaches all met at the Jackie Robinson statue in the center field plaza at Dodger Stadium. It’s the second straight year the Dodgers and their opponents on April 15 convened at the statue; last year the Cubs were in town, and Heyward addressed his old and then-new teams.

This year, Roberts introduced two speakers at the statue, with Reggie Smith leading off.

Following Smith was Dr. Harry Edwards, author and longtime civil rights activist, who delivered a rousing speech in which he argued that Robinson should posthumously be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for all of his life’s work.

“He answered belligerent, bellicose bias with bravery and brilliant baseball,” Edwards said.

Roberts later said he first met Smith when Roberts played with the Dodgers (from 2002-04), and introduced him as a great friend and mentor. In 2021, Roberts added Smith to his coaching staff for the All-Star Game.

Smith called Robinson a boyhood hero of his, and marveled at the example Robinson set for young Black kids everywhere.

“He allowed us as African American players to be able to show that our SAT scores were just as good as anyone else,” Smith said. “What that stands for was Smart, we were Athletic, and we were Tough.”

On March 28, 1970, Robinson was at Dodger Stadium as part of an East-West All-Star Game of sorts just before the MLB season begin, an event to honor Dr. Martin Luther King. Back in 2018, Michael A. Fletcher wrote about the star-studded event for Andscape, and Bill Francis noted that the event featured 15 future Hall of Famers.

Smith, then with the Red Sox, was also there, a few days shy of his 25th birthday and entering his fifth major league season, having made his first All-Star team the season before. On a plane trip to New York to join the Red Sox for opening day, Smith was on the same flight as Robinson.

“I’m on the plane, sitting in an aisle seat, and down the aisle came Jackie Robinson. He was being led, as he was having a little trouble with his eyesight at the time, and he sat in the aisle seat right next to me,” Smith told the gathered Dodgers and Nationals players.

“I’m sure you guys have experienced it yourself when a kid will come up to you and say you’re his favorite player, and he’s a little nervous. I was a five-year major league player at that time, and I was nervous,” Smith said. “But I gathered the courage to say, ‘Mr. Robinson, my name is Reggie Smith.’

“He said, ‘I know who you are, and I know what you stand for,’ and that meant so much to me. Because during that time, whenever there was an injustice on that ball field or any time, I would speak up, because he gave me the courage to be able to do that. And I’m thankful for that.”