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Living legend Joe Torre, who is bound for Baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., was in Atlanta recently to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day. The 67-year-old four-time World Series champion shared his memories of witnessing Robinson’s legend unfold.



“I was a youngster growing up in Brooklyn in the ‘40s and ‘50s. I was like 6-years-old going on 7-years-old when Jackie [Robinson] broke in, in 1947 ... I never really enjoyed watching him play only because I was a Giants fan, and if you were a Giants fan you hated Jackie Robinson, you hated Duke Snyder and Pee Wee Reese because they were so good all of the time. Jackie was an inspiration, and when I got a little older I realized how much he changed the face of the game, not only by the fact he’s black, but the fact that [he made] you realize you judge people by how well they can play baseball, as opposed to the color of their skin. He’s opened up the roads for the Latin players, the Asian players and the game has really improved for sure since then. However, the downside to that right now [is] we’re losing the black player. We don’t have enough black players in the game and it seems that they’re choosing other sports, and the big part of that is that we have to really be proactive ... as a sport [and] go out and make arrangements for youngsters to be able to play baseball. It’s easier for them to play basketball; there’s a hoop, there’s a basketball [and] they can [play] by themselves. You can’t do baseball by yourself. I know that Bud Selig, the Commissioner of Baseball, is certainly aware of it, and is putting together a lot of inner-city programs where we [can] get black youngsters interested in what I think is the greatest game in the world.” –amir shaw

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