Dodgers bring Jackie Robinson’s message to Muir High School

Los Angeles Dodgers past and present visited John Muir High School on Friday for a celebration of 1937 Muir alumnus Jackie Robinson, challenging today’s Mustangs to honor his legacy by excelling not on the field, but in the classroom.

More than 70 Muir students gathered in the school’s library to talk sports, history and life with shortstop Dee Gordon, outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. and former Dodgers stars “Sweet” Lou Johnson, Tommy Davis, Ken Landreaux and Derrel Thomas.

Robinson became the first black player in professional baseball when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947 — a milestone the team celebrates today with Jackie Robinson Day at Dodger Stadium.

Players said events of the past 65 years have toppled social barriers for minority youth, who must now carry Robinson’s torch by succeeding in all academic and professional fields.

“The color-barrier thing — now that’s dead. Don’t use that as an excuse as to why you didn’t make it,” said Johnson, 77, who hit the winning home run in game seven of the 1965 World Series while filling in for the injured Davis. “Jackie was a fighter on and off the field. That’s why I liked him.”

Muir’s student body is roughly 30% black and two-thirds Latino.

“If you are given an opportunity and you refuse to step through that door, that’s on you,” added Thomas, 61, who along with Landreaux was a member of the 1981 world championship team.

Students said they’ve come to expect words of encouragement from school assemblies, but the players’ messages rang true.

“I know they said things to inspire us, but they related to us through their experiences,” said sophomore Nico Resendiz, a varsity shortstop.

Sophomore Jonas Pulley, a second baseman, said that message was, “Stop referencing color. What matters is what type of education you have.”

After graduating from Muir — then Muir Tech, where athletes called themselves the Terriers — Robinson went on to what was then Pasadena Junior College and UCLA before entering the majors.

Robinson would sometimes clash with authorities in Pasadena over racial prejudice and mistreatment of black youth, and seldom returned after becoming a pro ballplayer. His Olympic-medalist brother Mack Robinson remained in Pasadena as a schools employee and community activist who fought to desegregate a city swimming pool.

Davis, who signed with the Dodgers after a personal phone call from Robinson, said the star aged quickly in the limelight and blamed Robinson’s death at age 54 on the stress of facing racial hatred on and off the field.

“He sacrificed his life for us right here. It wasn’t easy,” said Davis, 73, who helped the Dodgers sweep the Yankees in the 1963 World Series.

Muir Principal Sheryl Orange endorsed what she heard from the boys in blue.

“I love the message about students not letting color, or any of the stereotypical things we’ve gotten used to hearing, influence who they are and who they can become,” Orange said.