The 75th anniversary of the late Jackie Robinson breaking Major League Baseball’s colour barrier is being commemorated in a spectacular way in New York City. On Friday, the landmark 42nd Street and Broadway crossroads in Manhattan was renamed “Jackie Robinson Way.”

To mark the 75th anniversary, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, Robinson’s eldest granddaughter, Sonya Pankey, and Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr., Mariano Rivera, and Joe Torre presented a blue-and-white street sign with Robinson’s emblems.

42nd & Broadway in NYC has temporarily become Jackie Robinson Way 💙

(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/zj7B9qcHtX

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— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 15, 2022

On April 15, 1947, Robinson debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Manfred claims that baseball had not become America’s pastime until “Jackie and those who followed him” integrated the sport.

“Jackie’s courage was a beacon for much-needed change, both for our game and for our society,” Manfred said. “Throughout his trailblazing Hall of Fame career, Jackie set baseball on a new course, and in doing so, he inspired those who would lead the civil rights movement and those who would support that movement.”

Larry Doby, Henry “Hank” Aaron, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, and Bob Gibson were all influenced by Robinson. The six-time All-Star also made it possible for players like Griffey, who started the Jackie Robinson Day custom of players wearing No. 42, to enjoy the sport he loves.

“If it wasn’t for him, maybe my dad would have never played. Maybe I would have never played,” Griffey said. “[Robinson] went through things that I can’t imagine … and I don’t have to go through that because that man did it for us and he did it for this country.”

On April 15, 1997, former MLB commissioner Bud Selig retired Robinson’s No. 42 uniform throughout the league during a ceremony held midway through a Dodgers-Mets game.

Rivera was the final player to wear the No. 42 on a regular basis, having spent his entire career with the Yankees. The 13-time All-Star, who acknowledges he didn’t know much about Robinson’s effect when he first entered the game, has since learned more about him and is grateful for his legacy.

“Coming from my beautiful Panama, I didn’t know much about professional baseball. … I was given No. 42 and someone asked about Mr. Jackie Robinson. I said, ‘Who is that? I’ve got no clue,’” Rivera said via MLB.com. “But in 1997 when they started doing all these things [to honor Robinson] and removing No. 42 from baseball, I said, ‘Wait a minute. I have to learn about who this man is.’

“And I learned about Mr. Jackie Robinson and I was proud because I had the number. … I just wanted to bring his legacy to a different level. I wanted Mr. Jackie Robinson to be proud of me. Because what he did for us, it was amazing, and we just wanted to return what he did for us. We couldn’t do nothing but play the game that he loved to play and do the best that we could, and I think we did that. So he’s in heaven, looking down and saying he’s proud. He’s definitely proud.”

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