This weekend, every UCLA baseball player will wear a special retro uniform as part of a tribute to legendary Bruins alumnus Jackie Robinson. UCLA unveiled the classic look on Monday during an event at the Acosta Athletic Complex.
UCLA baseball players will be sporting the cream-colored uniforms with dark blue lettering in conjunction with Major League Baseball’s annual Jackie Robinson Day. First, they will wear them in Tuesday’s game against UC-Santa Barbara, then again in a three-game series against Minnesota that begins on Friday.
The stadium named after the former Bruins multi-sport star will host all of the games. Robinson was the first UCLA athlete to ever letter in four sports: baseball, basketball, football and track.
Jackie Robinson’s eldest granddaughter unveiled the retro UCLA baseball uniforms
Sonya Pankey, the eldest granddaughter of Robinson and the executive vice president of brand development for the Jackie Robinson Estate, presented the retro uniforms.
“It’s a retro jersey and it’s classic,” the New York Post reports Pankey said at the unveiling. “I love the weight of it, it’s modern because that’s what we want to do, we want to contemporize this brand. We’ve got a winning team wearing it, so I’m excited.”
The UCLA Bruins are currently 33-2, 18-0 in the Big Ten Conference, and are in the middle of a 27-game winning streak.
“Jackie Robinson was a true visionary, an advocate for social justice, a progressive change agent and not just a number on a jersey,” Pankey said during the unveiling ceremony. “He was a pioneer, he used his platform to challenge injustice, inspire change and open doors for generations to come.”
Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier while playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. Since 2004, every April 15, the league observes Jackie Robinson Day with every player, coach, and umpire wearing Robinson’s No. 42 during games.