Jackie Robinson Day 2025 Highlights from Sports World's Celebration of MLB Icon

April 15 is among the most significant dates in U.S. sports history, as Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in MLB on this date in 1947.

Tuesday marks the 78th anniversary of Robinson playing his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers in a 5-3 win over the Boston Braves. Players across MLB will wear No. 42 to commemorate Robinson and his contributions to the sport and society at large.

The Dodgers also paid special tribute to Robinson on Tuesday:

Ahead of Tuesday's slate of games, MLB players Lawrence Butler, Hunter Greene, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Kenley Jansen commented on what Robinson and his legacy means to them.

Meanwhile, New York Mets star Francisco Lindor is paying tribute to Robinson through his equipment:

MLB also unveiled the official Jackie Robinson Cortez sneaker from Nike.

The commemorative sneakers are modeled on the Griffey 2 MCS cleats used by Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.

Griffey told MLB.com's Bryan Horowitz that he, along with the people at Nike, have worked to highlight the various aspects of Robinson's life on and off the diamond.

"Over the last few years, we’ve really sat down and said, let’s pick certain things that have happened. One year it was his military service, the other was the [Brooklyn] colorway. When he played for the UCLA Bruins, we had that colorway. So it is not just one thing that we have. It’s a collection of amazing things that people really associate with Jackie Robinson."

MLB officially retired Robinson's No. 42 jersey across the sport in 1997 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his big league debut. Griffey was given permission to don the number for the Seattle Mariners, flipping from his usual No. 24, for a game against Cleveland on April 15, 1997.

MLB officially designated April 15 to be Jackie Robinson Day across the sport in 2004. Five years later, all uniformed personnel wore the No. 42 during games on that date.

The Dodgers unveiled a bronze Robinson statue outside of Dodger Stadium on April 15, 2017. The sculpture captures his famous steal of home plate in Game 1 of the 1955 World Series against the New York Yankees.

Robinson played 10 seasons with the Dodgers from 1947 to '56. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1962.