COVID-19 could not stop the celebration of Jackie Robinson Day

Even COVID-19 couldn’t stop the honoring of a hero. The Major League Baseball (MLB) celebrates “Jackie Robinson Day” with a variety of ceremonies on April 15 every year in order to commemorate Jackie Robinson who made his major league debut on the same day in 1947, becoming the first black major league baseball player. It has had every baseball player wear his number 42 on the field since 2009 to celebrate his sprit with which he fought against racism.

As the coronavirus outbreak has delayed the start of the MLB season, the league was not able to celebrate the day on the field. However, many donations have been made instead. Curtis Granderson, who retired after the last season, donated 42,000 meals to the COVID-19 food bank partners. “Although baseball may be on pause, today is bigger than baseball,” he said on his Twitter account.

Thomas Tull who produced “42,” a 2013 movie about Robinson’s life, has decided to make a huge donation. His foundation “Tulco” said it would donate 4.2 million dollars for hospitals that serve the African-American community hit by COVID-19.


Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com