Producer of '42' Donates $4.2M to COVID-19 Relief on Jackie Robinson Day

April 15 marks Jackie Robinson Day on the MLB calendar every season, commemorating the day in 1947 when the Brooklyn Dodgers great and Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier.

MLB didn't get a chance to properly recognize Robinson's accomplishments Wednesday with the season suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Thomas Tull, a producer of the film 42, got into the spirit by announcing a donation of $4.2 million worth of protective medical equipment in honor of him per Thomas Harrigan of MLB.com.

Tull's company Tulco partnered with FIGS, a medical apparel company, to donate scrubs, masks and medical gowns. The equipment will be distributed specifically to "health care organizations in the United States serving African American communities and other communities that have been impacted most by the coronavirus pandemic." 

According to Tom Metcalf of Bloomberg, Tulco is "an investment holding company that uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics to identify investments and grow the businesses."

The 2013 film is a biopic tracing the events before and after Robinson broke the color barrier.

Robinson wore No. 42 for his entire 11-season MLB career, which consisted of six All-Star appearances, the 1949 National League MVP award, the 1949 batting title, the 1947 NL Rookie of the Year and a 1955 World Series championship.

The former multi-sport star at UCLA hit .311 and smacked 137 home runs in his career.

The No. 42 was retired leaguewide in 1997, although players wearing the number at that time were allowed to keep it.

New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera was the last person to wear No. 42 on a full-time basis until he retired in 2013.

However, all players wear the No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day, honoring just one of 14 ex-MLB and Negro League players who have earned a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

"Jackie taught us all so much,'' two-time MVP and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson once said per ESPN's Tim Kurkjian. "One of the most important lessons was the only way to beat them, to beat the hate, was to beat them on the field.''

Robinson was inducted into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1962.