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LOS ANGELES — Major League Baseball marked the 77th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the sport’s color barrier on Monday.

Robinson started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, marking the end of the racial segregation that had relegated Black players to the Negro Leagues for decades.

“Jackie Robinson became the most vilified, targeted subject of verbal abuse and malicious treatment in the sports arena since Jack Johnson had the audacity to become heavyweight champion of the world in 1908,” sociologist and civil rights activist Harry Edwards said at Dodger Stadium. “Like Jack Johnson, Jackie Robinson stood alone.”

Members of Robinson’s family, including his 101-year-old widow, were at ballparks from coast to coast to honor him.

At New York’s Citi Field, Rachel Robinson rode in a golf cart to the Mets dugout, where she was given flowers by manager Carlos Mendoza and retired players Mookie Wilson and Butch Huskey — the last Met to wear Robinson’s No. 42.

“She’s the legacy of perseverance,” said David Robinson, the youngest son of Jackie and Rachel Robinson.

Every team playing Monday wore No. 42 jerseys.

Robinson’s life story is particularly poignant to the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts, the first manager of Asian heritage and second Black manager to lead a team to a World Series title.

“He had a big burden in his life to be a professional baseball player but to take on all this negativity, this hate towards him, his wife, his kids, and still persevere,” Roberts said.

Players and staff from the Dodgers, including Shohei Ohtani, and the Washington Nationals surrounded Robinson’s statue in Centerfield Plaza hours before game time in Los Angeles.

“I can’t say enough of what Jackie Robinson’s meant to not only the Black community but the Hispanic community, as well,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez told the group. “He opened the doors for many, many great players, he really did, and he changed the lives of many, including myself. I don’t know if I would be here if it wasn’t for Jackie. My idol Roberto Clemente definitely, probably, wouldn’t have been around.”

“He exemplifies what it means to have strength, courage and passion,” Martinez said of Robinson.

Reggie Smith, who never played on a losing team in his 13-year MLB career, recalled nervously speaking to Robinson when they were on the same flight from Los Angeles to the East Coast. Smith introduced himself and said Robinson told him, “I know who you are, and I know what you stand for.”

“That meant so much to me,” Smith told the players. “Whenever there was injustice on that ballfield of any kind, I would speak up because he gave me the courage to be able to do that.”

The Dodgers and Nationals also were joined by Ayo Robinson, a granddaughter of Jackie and Rachel Robinson who was born after Jackie’s death in 1972. Her father is David Robinson.

“I soak up my grandfather through the experience of others,” she said after the ceremony. “The fact that he is still so impactful in our society today means a lot to me as a person, but it means a lot to me as an American, as well.”

Smith urged today’s MLB players to remember Jackie Robinson and his travails, which included being barred from hotels and restaurants because of his skin color as well as on-field verbal abuse from fans and opposing teams.

“Keep it in mind so that this game can continue to move forward the way that it has over the last years,” Smith said, “and be thankful that you’re here and you’re able to do the things that you do day in and day out.”

In related news, former National League Cy Young Award winner Orel Hershiser, the 1988 World Series MVP for the Dodgers, has purchased a painting titled “Grace” that depicts Robinson praying around a dinner table with Martin Luther King Jr. and former Dodgers greats Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe.

Hershiser plans to keep the painting at its current home, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

“I’m honored to be its owner,” he said in a statement. “It marks a very important historical time, and it is important to keep this piece where people can learn about this moment.”

Artist Dave Hobrecht donated his painting for display at the museum in 2020, but the wooden canvas was damaged during shipment, resulting in a crack that completely detached the bottom portion of the image from the rest.

Hobrecht and museum president Bob Kendrick decided to reframe the piece and keep it the way it arrived.

“Not having a breakable spirit, that’s Jackie Robinson,” Kendrick said in the statement. “We decided to unveil it with the damage and that it would be a metaphor that beautifully captures what Jackie was all about.”

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Utes’ Whittingham reenergized after ’24 free fall

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Utes' Whittingham reenergized after '24 free fall

FRISCO, Texas — A dynamic new quarterback, a new offensive system and two projected first-round picks up front have Utah coach Kyle Whittingham feeling enthusiastic about the Utes’ chances of bouncing back from a disastrous debut season in the Big 12.

Utah was voted No. 1 in the Big 12 preseason poll last year after joining from the Pac-12, but a brutal run of injuries and inconsistency resulted in a seven-game conference losing streak and a 5-7 finish — the program’s first losing season since 2013.

After weeks of contemplation about his future and what was best for the program, Whittingham, the third-longest-tenured head coach in FBS, decided in December to return for his 21st season with the Utes.

“The bottom line and the final analysis was I couldn’t step away on that note,” Whittingham told ESPN at Big 12 media days Wednesday. “It was too frustrating, too disappointing. As much as college football has changed with all the other factors that might pull you away, that was the overriding reason: That’s not us, that’s not who we are. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. I did not want to miss the opportunity to try to get that taste out.”

“The bottom line and the final analysis was I couldn’t step away on that note. It was too frustrating, too disappointing. … That’s not us. That’s not who we are. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. I did not want to miss the opportunity to try to get that taste out.”

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham on going 5-7 in 2024

Whittingham and Utes defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley conducted a national search for a new offensive coordinator and quickly zeroed in on New Mexico‘s Jason Beck. Then they managed to land Devon Dampier, Beck’s first-team All-Mountain West quarterback, via the transfer portal.

After finishing 11th nationally in total offense with 3,934 yards and 31 total touchdowns and putting up the fourth-most rushing yards (1,166) among all FBS starters, Dampier followed his coach to Salt Lake City and immediately asserted himself as a difference-maker for a program that had to start four different QBs in 2024.

“He’s a terrific athlete,” Whittingham said. “He’s a guy that, if spring is any indication, he’s an exciting player, and we can’t wait to watch him this season. … He’s got that ‘it’ factor. He’s a leader. Needless to say, very excited to see what he does for us.”

They’ve surrounded Dampier with 21 more newcomers via the transfer portal and will protect him with two returning starters at tackle in Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu, who are projected first-round NFL draft picks by ESPN’s Matt Miller.

“We feel they’re the best tandem in the country,” Whittingham said. “The offensive line in general, I feel, it’s the best since I’ve been there. And that’s quite a statement. We’ve had some really good offensive lines. We’ve got two first-rounders and three seniors inside that have played a lot of good football for us. That better be a strength of ours, and that’s what we’re counting on.”

Whittingham has previously said he did not want to coach past the age of 65. Now that he’s 65, he acknowledges that he might’ve arrived at a different decision about his future had the Utes ended up winning the Big 12 in 2024. He is reenergized about getting them back into contention, but he’s not ready to say whether this season might be his last.

“The best answer I can give you is, right now, I’m excited and passionate about going to work every single day,” Whittingham said. “As soon as that changes, I’ll know it’s time. I’m just counting on knowing when the time is right. I can’t tell you exactly what the circumstances will be other than losing the fire in the belly.”

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MLB to utilize ABS challenge system during ASG

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MLB to utilize ABS challenge system during ASG

The automated ball-strike system is coming to the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta.

MLB officials added the feature to the annual exhibition game knowing it could be a precursor to becoming a permanent part of the major leagues as soon as next year.

The same process used this past spring training will be used for the Midsummer Classic: Each team will be given two challenges with the ability to retain them if successful. Only a pitcher, catcher or hitter can ask for a challenge and it has to happen almost immediately after the pitch. The player will tap his hat or helmet indicating to the umpire he wants to challenge while any help from the dugout or other players on the field is not allowed.

MLB officials say 72% of fans who were polled during spring training said the impact of ABS on their experience at the game was a “positive” one. Sixty-nine percent said they’d like it part of the game moving forward. Just 10% expressed negativity toward it.

MLB’s competition committee will meet later this summer to determine if ABS will be instituted next season after the league tested the robotic system throughout the minor leagues and spring training in recent years. Like almost any rule change, there were mixed reviews from players about using ABS but nearly all parties agree on one point: They prefer a challenge system as opposed to the technology calling every pitch.

As was the case in spring training, once a review is initiated, an animated replay of the pitch will be shown on the scoreboard and the home plate umpire will either uphold the call or overturn it. ABS uses Hawk-Eye system technology which tracks the pitch trajectory and location in relation to the strike zone, providing an instant assessment which can be relayed to the home plate umpire.

The All-Star Game will be played at Truist Park in Atlanta on Tuesday.

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Royals sign former Cy Young winner Keuchel

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Royals sign former Cy Young winner Keuchel

The Kansas City Royals have signed former Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel to a minor league contract, the team announced Wednesday.

The 37-year-old left-hander will start at Triple-A Omaha and will earn a prorated $2 million salary if he reaches the big leagues, sources tell ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Keuchel has not pitched in the majors for nearly a full calendar year. He elected to become a free agent on July 18, 2024, after being designated for assignment by the Milwaukee Brewers.

In four starts with the Brewers last season, Keuchel had a 5.40 ERA in 16 2/3 innings without a decision. In 13 major league seasons, the 2015 American League Cy Young winner with the Houston Astros is 103-92 with a 4.04 ERA in 282 appearances (267 starts).

After pitching his first seven seasons with the Astros, Keuchel has made appearances for six different teams since 2019. He won a World Series with Houston in 2017 and is a two-time All-Star selection and five-time Gold Glove winner.

Information from Field Level Media was used in this report.

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