Fifty-nine years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier, his widow was honored at Shea Stadium on Saturday, which was "Jackie Robinson Day" throughout the major leagues.
Following a video tribute to the former Brooklyn Dodgers star that was shown on the scoreboard, Rachel Robinson walked to the pitcher's mound before the New York Mets hosted the Milwaukee Brewers. She was accompanied by Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, and Mets manager Willie Randolph.
"I've got a picture of Jackie in my office, so I think about that every day," Randolph said. "I'm just happy to be a part of this day."
Randolph never met Robinson, who died in 1972 at age 53.
"He's one of those people you wish you could go have dinner with," Randolph said.
During a ceremony at Shea Stadium on April 15, 1997, baseball commissioner Bud Selig retired Robinson's No. 42 for all major league teams. Two years ago, Selig decided "Jackie Robinson Day" would be an annual event each April 15.
A large blue, gray and white circle with "42" was put over home plate during Saturday's ceremony, which also was attended by former Negro Leagues players Robert Scott and Armando Vazquez.
The Chicago White Sox remembered Robinson with a special tribute on the center-field scoreboard at U.S. Cellular Field that showed clips of his life and career interspersed with some shots of players from today's game.
Also shown was a note Robinson got threatening his life, and later his Hall of Fame induction.
Minutes after the video tribute ended, three Jackie Robinson Foundation scholars were honored and posed for pictures with White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye and coaches Harold Baines and Tim Raines. One of the scholars, Judge Gardner, threw out a ceremonial first pitch before the White Sox faced the Toronto Blue Jays.
"I think Jackie Robinson made us a lot of money," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He opened doors for a lot of good things in baseball."
Guillen said Selig "should make all the players go to the Negro League museum in Kansas City" so they can see the sacrifices that were made by those players.
The Red Sox also showed a video before their game with the Seattle Mariners. It included shots of Robinson and Branch Rickey, Robinson sliding into home plate and Martin Luther King Jr. speaking.