NEW YORK — There was a time, and not so long ago, when you could ask a major league player about Jackie Robinson and get a shrug in return. The league retired his number in 1997, on the 50th anniversary of his debut, with President Clinton in attendance. That made for a nice ceremony, but it was not until 2007 that Jackie Robinson Day really took hold.
That is when Ken Griffey Jr. called Bud Selig, then the commissioner of Major League Baseball. To this day, Selig remains astounded by what Griffey told him.
" 'A lot of the guys' — and I'm quoting him directly — 'don't know who Jackie Robinson is,' " Selig told me the other day.
