Rachel: ‘It’s Not Enough’

Rachel Robinson, widow of Jackie Robinson, implored Major League Baseball on Saturday to not sit back on its accomplishments but persevere in its efforts to break down racial barriers.

“We want to celebrate the triumphs of the past and social change that was characterized by Jack’s achievement,” Rachel Robinson, 74, said, “but it’s not enough to say it happened. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done. What we need is a recommitment to social change of the future.

“The greatest tribute we could make to Jackie Robinson would be to commit ourselves to social change in the future and today.

“He spent his lifetime what he felt was best, and committing himself to a better society, and we need to carry on that tradition.”

Would Jackie Robinson be pleased with the progress of baseball and society the last 50 years?

“No, he would not be,” Rachel Robinson said. “He would be very impatient. He was always impatient.

“He wanted change. Institutional change. Permanent change. Progress is being made, but it’s not where we want to be. We would like to see more African Americans in the front offices.”

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Duke Snider, a teammate of Robinson’s in 1947, said he will never forget the time in the Polo Grounds when Robinson received a death threat.

“The FBI talked to us before the game,” Snider said, “but when it was time to go out on the field, we were trying to decide what to do. Jackie said, ‘Let’s all go onto the field.’ We joked, ‘You go ahead, the guy might be a bad shot and hit one of us by mistake.’

“Gene Hermanski said: ‘I know how to resolve this. Let’s all put on No. 42 so he won’t be able to tell the difference.”

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Dodger closer Todd Worrell concedes that baseball has made strides since Robinson integrated baseball, but said it’s ludicrous to believe that racism no longer exists in baseball or society.

“There have been a lot of visual changes,” Worrell said, “but I can’t say we’ve made that much progress in man’s heart. There are still biases out there.

“You can have the best laws in the world, but you still can’t legislate what a person believes or says in his heart. And that’s what needs to change.”

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The Dodger-Pirate game was played with No. 42 painted on the second-base bag, Robinson’s retired number.

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TODAY’S PITCHERS

DODGERS’ RAMON MARTINEZ (0-1, 3.60 ERA this season) vs. PIRATES’ JASON SCHMIDT (5-6, 5.70 ERA last season)

Dodger Stadium, 1 p.m.

Radio--KABC (790 AM), KWKW (1330 AM).

* UPDATE: Martinez will be trying to bounce back from his shaky opening-day start when he yielded five hits and five walks and two earned runs in five innings. The Pirates pounded him in his only start against them last year, getting four earned runs in five innings. Martinez has not lost consecutive starts since June 28-July 3. . . . Dodger Manager Bill Russell was contemplating giving center fielder Brett Butler his first day off of the season today. . . . Pirate starter Schmidt failed to beat the Dodgers in two starts last year, but still managed to give them fits. Schmidt was 0-2 with a 2.77 ERA against Dodgers, giving up four runs in 13 innings. . . . Schmidt was 3-4 with a 6.75 ERA in 13 games for the Atlanta Braves last season before being traded Aug. 30 to the Pirates in a deal for Denny Neagle. Schmidt was 2-2 with a 4.06 ERA in six starts with the Pirates. . . . The key to beating Schmidt is getting ahead in the count. He yielded a .395 batting average last year when behind in the count, compared to a .242 average when ahead in the count. Schmidt struggles against lefties, yielding a .336 batting average and .500 slugging percentage. He is yielding a .253 average against righties and a .360 slugging percentage.