Why is Jackie Robinson day on April 15?

Jackie Robinson is revered in MLB and sporting history for being the first player in league history to break the color barrier by appearing in a game for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

To this day and forevermore, Robinson's legacy is honored leaguewide. No player can officially wear the number 42, which was Robinson's number. The last player to wear it as his official number was Mariano Rivera, who was grandfathered in since he wore the number before the league retired it universally in 1997.

Beyond that prestigious honor as the only jersey number retired across MLB, Robinson is celebrated each year on Jackie Robinson Day. Each year, it's on April 15. It was first celebrated by MLB in 2004, and the primary tradition in which it's honored is that every player in the field of play wears the same number on the back of their jersey, with no name: 42.

Why is Jackie Robinson day celebrated on April 15?

Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier when he started his first game on April 15, 1947 for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He had started off as a professional in 1945 in the Negro Leagues for the Kansas City Monarchs.

His first game on that fateful day was at Ebbets Field against the Boston Braves. The Dodgers won, 5-3, with Robinson going 0-for-3. He would get his first major league hit in his second game, and wound up with 175 hits that season. He led the league in stolen bases his first season in the majors.

The Negro Leagues were known to roster talented Black athletes, some of which viewed as obviously talented enough to play in the Major Leagues, but systemic racism kept them from gaining an opportunity due to explicit and implicit racist barriers.

So, the reason why is simple: It's the same day Robinson and the Dodgers made a move that would change baseball, and America, forever.

Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY in 1962.