Every April 15 is a special day in Major League Baseball, as it is known as Jackie Robinson Day, and used to celebrate Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers on that same day in 1947.
Robinson’s jersey No. 42 is retired throughout all of baseball but each April 15 all players and coaches throughout the league wear the number as part of the celebration. The Los Angeles Dodgers hosted the Arizona Diamondbacks on Jackie Robinson Day this year, earning a 7-2 victory to snap an 11-game regular-season losing streak to their division rivals.
Clayton Kershaw got the start and with the No. 42 jersey on, had his best outing of the season. He allowed just two hits and one run in seven innings of work, striking out 12 without issuing a walk. Kershaw earned his first win of the season.
“It’s cool,” he said of pitching on Jackie Robinson Day. “Even more so with the Dodgers, this was his team. The Dodgers have done a great job as far as leading the way in different parts of the world and different parts of life. Just trying to be culturally advanced and forward-thinking, it’s really cool to be a part of.”
Sunday marked the ninth time in Kershaw’s 11-year Major League career that he struck out at least a dozen without issuing a walk. The Dodgers have won each of those nine of those games.
Additionally, Kershaw has now pitched four times on Jackie Robinson Day, and the Dodgers are also undefeated in those contests. The left-handed ace is 2-0 in such agmes.
Last year on Jackie Robinson Day, the Dodgers unveiled a statue of Robinson outside of Dodger Stadium, marking the first statue in the stadium’s history.
