42

Wednesday was Jackie Robinson day in Major League Baseball. Years before Brown vs. The Board of Education, years before the mess in Little Rock, years before George Wallace on the steps of the University of Mississippi; Jackie Robinson was the first African-American man to play in the Major Leagues.

As a memorial, about 15 years ago, every major league team retired his number, 42. Having your number retired is the greatest honor an individual can receive in a team sport. It is the team's way of saying "the impact you made is so important, no one else will ever be identified with this number."

On Wednesday, this rule was bent into a pretzel. On Wednesday, everyone wore the number 42. Everyone. So great was Robinson's impact that to celebrate the anniversary of this first game, everyone in the majors wore this retired number.

Gestures mean a lot, these gestures mean a lot. Douglas Adams said that the answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything was 42. It seems like the question could be "what is the most important number in race relations."

Before politics, before education, even before a lot of lunch counters, there was the Dodgers infield. Whenever anyone asks "what is the value of sports?" This has to be a part of the answer.