All 30 teams in Major League Baseball are celebrating the legacy of Jackie Robinson by taking select teens to a free screening of hit film “42,” MLB.com reports.
According to the league, each of the clubs will select students in 8th through 12th grades to attend private screenings at local theaters.
The first event is set for Tuesday night in Milwaukee, which will be attended by MLB commissioner Bud Selig and Jackie Robinson’s daughter, Sharon Robinson — who is a MLB Educational Programming consultant.
There’s no word yet on the Twins’ plan for screening the film for teens in Minnesota.
Starring Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson and Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, “42” chronicles Jackie Robinson’s life from 1947-1949, when Brooklyn Dodgers president and general manager Rickey signs Robinson to a Major League contract — making him the first player in history to break the league’s color barrier.
More: Interview with “42” star Harrison Ford
More: Edina man shares stories of friendship with Jackie Robinson
Selig says, “’42’ brilliantly depicts not only the proudest and most powerful event in baseball history,” which he calls “a watershed moment in American history and the civil rights movement.”
The commissioner also called the film “a profound way for all of us throughout Major League Baseball to educate our next generation about Jackie Robinson’s vital impact on our nation.”
MLB recently celebrated Jackie Robinson Day, where annually on April 15 every player throughout the league wears No. 42.
Among the real-life footage at the end of “42” is a shot of Twins star Justin Morneau running onto the field wearing No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day.
Every team in the league has retired No. 42 in honor of Robinson.
See the trailer for “42” below.
