Jackie Robinson

Headline from ESPN.com right now:

"Players fear cheapening Robinson tribute"

No kidding.

If you haven't heard, Sunday marks the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first game in the major leagues. (You'll know who's done their homework, by the way, if you catch anyone saying Robinson was the first black player in the major leagues. He wasn't, but he was the first to play after a long period of segregation. In the very early days, there were black players.)

Anyway, in honor of this anniversary, many major league players are planning to wear No. 42, which was Robinson's number. I mean a ton of guys are doing it. From ESPN.com:

What started as Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. receiving special permission from Robinson's widow Rachel to honor the 60th anniversary of Robinson integrating the major leagues has ballooned into more than 150 players saying they'll don Robinson's No. 42 on Sunday. Five entire teams -- the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros -- will field rosters of 42s for the day.

Jackie Robinson suffered through a lot and truly made an enormous contribution to the game of baseball. He is worthy of honor. You might think what he did was so great, he should be honored at every game.

Wait for it...

He already is! Ten years ago, for the fiftieth anniversary of Robinson's major league debut, Major League Baseball retired the number 42 for the entire sport. (Players who were already wearing it, like Mariano Rivera, were allowed to continue.)

I don't want to be a jerk about this, and I think most players' hearts are in a good place. And I think Ken Griffey Jr.'s tribute would have been kind of cool. But once it gets to the point that entire teams are wearing his number, I think that it's gone overboard. Isn't the whole point of a retired jersey that no one wears it again? Why, in a way, do we afford Robinson less respect than Ted Williams?

If Jay Cutler wanted to wear No. 7 next year to honor John Elway, that wouldn't be cool. It would just be weird. Robinson's different, of course-he had an impact on more than one team. (Actually, so did Elway, and no Cleveland Brown should ever wear No. 7.) Seriously, I understand the social significance of what Robinson did; I just don't get how wearing a retired jersey really pays tribute. Wouldn't the respectful thing to do be not to wear it?

And, as is always the case with Robinson, this overshadows what he did on the field. Was his jersey retired just because he was black? Hail no. Robinson was one of the finest second basemen ever to play the game. I'm sure Ken Griffey, Jr.'s familiar with what Robinson did. But I wonder sometimes how many regular people know that.

Go ahead and look at his career. He was a .311 hitter with all five tools. He won the National League MVP in his third season, when he also won the batting title. And he played on the 1955 World Series champions. Robinson didn't just show that a black man could play in the major leagues; he proved one could dominate, and he left no doubt.

When I was a kid and heard Robinson was a Hall of Famer, I always assumed it was just because he was the first black baseball player (we already covered that). Nope. Robinson's good enough to go toe-to-toe with pretty much anyone who ever played the game. Sports are about competition. When we remember Robinson's breakthrough into the majors this weekend, let's not forget how convincingly he proved that he'd deserved to be there all along.