In the morning paper, they mentioned something about Jackie Robinson day and how 150 players will be wearing Jackie Robinson's number. Of course, having the extremely large mouth that Hunter has, he had something to say:
http://www.startribune.com/509/story/1118021.html
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Star Tribune (part of an article)
Hunter was the talk of the nation on Thursday after expressing unhappiness in USA Today and on ESPN that more than 150 players will wear Jackie Robinson's No. 42 on Sunday on the 60th anniversary of him breaking baseball's color barrier.
Hunter said he believes the honor should go to a select few, which he said was Ken Griffey Jr.'s intention when he called the league for permission to wear the number.
Five entire teams will wear No. 42 on Sunday. Hunter said he has no problem with the Dodgers, Robinson's team, wearing the number. But he found it ironic that Houston, a team with no African-American players, will have all of its players wearing No. 42 on Sunday.
"It's just my opinion," he said. "Someone asked me if I was commissioner, what would I do on that day. I said that all the black players in the game wear it that day."
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Now, for me, I think this is absolutely ridiculous. Sure, Jackie Robinson means a lot to African-Americans. I understand that Jackie opened the door for blacks to play in the major leagues. I understand that Torii Hunter, Ken Griffey Jr. and others see him as a huge idol. But I don't see what that has to do with race.
Jackie Robinson opened the doors for the African-Americans to be on a level playing field with the rest of the country. Jackie Robinson saw a game that was colorblind. He didn't want to be treated special, he wanted to be treated just like everyone else in the game.
I read a biography of Jackie Robinson when I was in school and he became a huge role model growing up. I thought about the courage that he showed every day as he stepped out onto the field. I thought about the adversity that he had to overcome.
When I was a senior in high school, I found a quote, "Adversity causes some men to break, others to break records." I immediately thought of Jackie Robinson. I can never imagine the adversity that he faced on the playing field.
Why wearing the #42 should be limited to "just a few", and assuming Hunter meant only blacks, is beyond me. Players should honor Jackie Robinson in their own way. If they wish to wear #42, so be it. Who is Torii Hunter to tell someone that they can't honor Jackie Robinson. Who is he to tell someone that Robinson didn't have an impact on them as a player. So what if he is white, Asian, Mexican, Australian, Dutch or Russian. Jackie Robinson opened the floodgates of the Major League Baseball.
He makes the comment about the Houston Astros. So what if they don't have a black player on the team. As a team they decided that they would like to honor him. Because they are white doesn't mean that it detracts anything from the honor. I would like to think that Jackie Robinson would be proud of the number of players that have been touched by his story.
I'll end with this: Torii Hunter, you need to shut your mouth.