Padres, Giants celebrate Jackie's impact

SAN DIEGO -- Seventy-one years after Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier, the Giants and Rockies felt his impact as strongly as ever on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park.
As has been tradition each April 15 since 2009, MLB celebrated Jackie Robinson Day with all players and on-field personnel wearing Jackie's iconic No. 42. The Padres recognized Robinson with a pregame tribute on their left-field videoboard.
"League-wide, it's cool that we all unify, come together and recognize what Jackie Robinson meant for this game and for this country," said Padres right-hander Tyson Ross. "He broke through a color barrier that set the pace for the civil rights movement and the equality we all share now."
Ross touted Robinson's impact on the country and society well ahead of his impact on the sport of baseball.
"There's a lot of power given to athletes and their ability to influence society, raising the consciousness of the people in this country," Ross said. "Everyone loves sports, and to see athletes take a stand, whether it's Jackie Robinson or some of the different causes people are standing up for in this era -- it's pretty cool."
Said Giants outfielder Austin Jackson: "To understand what he did for the game and the magnitude of it is pretty special. The adversity he had to face as not only a player but also as a man, it takes a special person to be able to take that weight and carry it, and to be able to represent him and wear that 42 on your back is always a special moment for me and everybody in baseball.
"It takes a special person to be able to endure what he had to endure."

Jackie Robinson Day 2018 featured a handful of additional on-field uniform elements, including a commemorative patch on all team caps and jersey sleeves, socks emblazoned with "42," and a lightweight hooded fleece for batting practice and dugout wear featuring the "42" logo. MLB will donate all proceeds from the sale of such items to the Jackie Robinson Foundation.
A handful of players on both teams sported commemorative cleats for the occasion, too.
"The fact Jackie Robinson did what he did and was able to transcend the sport, change segregation in baseball and in the actual community at the time he did it, it was honestly something that still needs to be commemorated today," said Padres second baseman Carlos Asuaje. "Wearing his 42 means a lot, especially for minorities throughout baseball."