Jackie Robinson Day carries special meaning for Ken Griffey Jr.

LOS ANGELES – Every player in Major League Baseball will wear the number 42 on his back today in honor of Jackie Robinson. The spotlight will be on the game played in Los Angeles between the Mariners and the team with which Robinson played his entire MLB career, the Dodgers. The spotlight is important as Robinson’s story should never be forgotten.

For Ken Griffey Jr. – who on this date in 1997 became the first player to wear 42 on Jackie Robinson Day – it is a story that he is committed to passing on.

“You have certain guys who have changed the world and he was one of them,” Griffey said during an exclusive interview in spring training. “You look at the draft and where kids are coming from and free agency from all over the world to get the opportunity to play baseball, and that would have never happened if he wouldn’t have been as strong as he was to not fight and do the things that were necessary for everybody to basically reap the benefits of what he did.”

The story of Robinson and others who went before him were told to Griffey often and early. Growing up the son of a Major Leaguer in Ohio, Griffey was never quite sure who he might run into after games in his kitchen. A number of Ken Griffey Sr.’s teammates took Junior under their wings. His experience was unique, and clearly cherished.

“I’m fortunate that I have got guys who were always in my house – Brooks Lawrence, Chuck Harmon Sr. – who were big influences on teaching the game of baseball and what the guys did before they started playing,” Griffey said. “Listening to guys talking about the barnstorming and being in the buses and hanging the pants out the window, washing them that way and letting them dry, driving up north, down south to play in the winter time to make money.”

A young Griffey couldn’t quite fathom the stories. It was so far removed from what he grew up with.

“I remember looking at my dad talk about how that doesn’t exist now,” he said. “And he would say, ‘No, and this is why it doesn’t exist now.’ But at age 12 you don’t really fully understand the magnitude of what these guys had to go through just to play the game that they love. It made it a lot easier for guys like me to just go out there and play baseball and not have to worry about everything else.”

Griffey believes that to this day, the struggles of Robinson and others should be motivation for those who want to play at the professional level. Their stories, when told, should provide inspiration.

“All these guys were great story tellers and they kept you interested. I think that’s what some of the kids need to hear,” Griffey said. “They need to hear what these guys went through and they’ll appreciate things and start to really focus on, ‘I really want to play baseball because of these guys.’ I think that’s what we’re missing now is guys who are able to come into these locker rooms who played for these organizations and talk to the young guys, the minor-league guys, the high school kids. Not because it’s something that we need to do, but because we need to get these kids to understand that this world has changed and you can be a part of it and move it forward, or you can stand still and do nothing.

“I think kids need to understand that it’s not about me anymore, it’s about you guys. You guys are going to be the ones who run the world. I’m just going to be the old guy sitting on my porch with my radio. Your generation is going to change the world and you have to be a part of it. You need to be a positive role model in the community.”

As for the Mariners, Griffey hopes they take pause today to think about the man who wore number 42 in 1947 and the sacrifices he made.

“I want them to take away that the man that we are honoring did everything he could so we can go out there and play this game and not have the racial tension that he had to go through,” Griffey said. “Him dying at a very early age because of stress and everything else, I think that took a toll on him and that’s why he passed away early. What his family has done over the last 40-50 years has been unbelievable to make sure he stays relevant and he will stay relevant as long as there are guys like me that understand what he did and what he had to go through. I might not totally understand what he had to go through, but I have family who were there and they have told me. I’m going to make sure that when they talk about somebody, it’s going to be him.”

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