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BOSTON – Baseball is holding its fifth annual Jackie Robinson Day on the 66th anniversary of his breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
All uniformed personnel throughout baseball were asked to wear Robinson’s number 42 on Monday starting with the first game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Nine games were scheduled.
More than 100 Rays players and other club personnel saw an advance screening of the movie, “42,” during spring training in Port Charlotte, Fla. The film about Robinson opened recently to a strong turnout at the box office.
Rays manager Joe Maddon said that after the spring training screening, many Rays players and coaches had a greater appreciation of Robinson’s contribution to baseball.