Yesterday, while reviewing the photos from the Cardinals/Diamondbacks game, I noticed it looked like No. 42 was having an awfully good game. He was being photographed constantly and was all over the field. Wait a minute…..it wasn’t just one person…..everyone was wearing No. 42 on their jersey… every player on both teams.

On April 15, all Major League Baseball players, coaches and umpires wore No. 42  to honor Jackie Robinson on the 62nd anniversary of the day he broke major league baseball’s color barrier.

I think that’s a great way to honor him. But I thought selfishly of a problem that arises when everyone wears the same number:  How will the photographers identify who’s who? Photographers are dependent on team rosters which list each person by his name and number and position to help them figure out who’s made the play - especially for those players who are on the visiting team, and especially when it’s the beginning of the season and we don’t know the new players by sight.
I applaud those photographers who were able to come through with the correct id’s of the players and I wonder what their procedure was to do it while still keeping track of the game.
But, might there be another way to honor the man without everyone wearing the same number? Perhaps instead, the teams could substitute the team logo on the front of the jersey with a photo of Mr. Robinson screened on it. Or perhaps they could add a patch with his number to their sleeve. And they could make it blue like the old Brooklyn Dodgers uniform.
I don’t know, have I just thought of a challenge for the next season of contestants on Project Runway?
What would you do to honor a player on their special day?

(photo credits: Associated Press)