From one legend to another: Opal Lee honors Jackie Robinson at Texas Rangers game
It was a night of local legends celebrating one of America’s biggest heroes.
Dr. Opal Lee, the long time Fort Worth resident who helped make Juneteenth a federal holiday, threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Friday before the Texas Rangers’ game against the Los Angeles Angels at Globe Life Field.
The Angels scored five runs in the fifth after a five-run fourth for the Rangers to win 9-6.
Friday’s ceremonial pitch, however, went way beyond just a nightly ceremony. Across MLB on Friday, the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier was celebrated.
Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels players, along with every team in the league on Friday, wore No. 42 jerseys. For the first time, all teams wore Dodger blue No. 42 regardless of the team’s primary uniform color.
Players, managers and coaches also wore No. 42 patches with team-specific uniform colors on their right shoulders and on caps.
Former Rangers greats Ferguson Jenkins and Al Oliver joined Lee on the mound for the ceremonial pitch.
Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers for the first time at Ebbets Field on April 15, 1947.
Lee, who turns 96 in October, was 20 at the time of Robinson’s groundbreaking moment. She was born in Marshall and her family moved to Fort Worth when she was 10. She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Wiley college in Marshall and later earned her master’s degree in counseling and guidance from then North Texas State in Denton.
She was on hand when President Biden signed the bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday in June 2021.
Lee was a young mother of four children when Robinson made history.
“I remember when it happened. I was just as excited as anybody else,” said Lee, who was elated to honor Robinson. “I could do a holy dance, but the children say when I do that, I’m twerking. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s fabulous. It’s humbling. And I just hope the next time you have one of these you call me and let me throw out the pitch again. I’ve enjoyed it.”
Lee hasn’t lost a step, and she’s still a tireless advocate for change.
“We’ve made some strides, of course we have,” she said. “I can buy clothes anywhere I want. I can eat in any restaurant if I want to. Nobody stops me if I want to go to Forest Park where I was only allowed to go on the 19th of June. Oh, we’ve made some strides. But I’m here to tell you, we’ve got lots more to do.”
Homelessness, joblessness, climate change, and the education system all need to be addressed, urged Lee.
“Our education system must tell the children the truth,” she said. “They need to know what happened so they can make the decisions not to let it happen again. And it could.”
She encouraged people to engage with those with differing beliefs.
“I advocate everybody making themselves a committee of one. It’s your responsibility, not the government’s. It’s your responsibility to make these changes,” she said. “You know people who are not on the same page you are on. Change their minds. And their minds can be changed, you know. It’s not going to happen in a day, or a week. But their minds can be changed.
“There’s so much more we need to do and we need to do it together,” she said.
Dick Bosman also threw out a first pitch to Rangers great Jim Sundberg. Bosman was the Rangers starting pitcher in their first game on April 15, 1972 in Anaheim.
The National Anthem was performed by Dion Pride, the son of former Rangers minority owner and country music legend Charley Pride. Charley Pride died at 86 in December 2020. The first 15,000 fans received Charley Pride bobbleheads on Friday night.
This story was originally published April 15, 2022 at 9:28 PM.
