Grays 10, Bears 4

Josh Gibson is smiling somewhere

The uniforms looked good on the Grays for a day (the Bears, too.) The Nats have some players that just wear a uniform so well - Nick Johnson, Alfonso Soriano, and Ryan Zimmerman are all made to be ballplayers. Ramon Ortiz looks great in the Grays jersey, too, and he's throwing so well. (What's with that?)

And why is Ortiz up on that mound? Or Soriano in the outfield? Or Byrd in center? Because Jackie Robinson had the balls to do it. Because he had the courage to stand up, face the death threats, face the hatred of teammates, of fans, of the media, of the nation. We get to watch two Major League Baseball teams pay tribute to a league that existed because of hatred, and it shows how far as a people we have come. For those of us who have parents that are too young to have been around when Jackie made his Major League debut, it's pretty tough to imagine that such a - um, what is even the word for it - contemptable rule was ever allowed to exist, and tributes like tonight's game help us to never forget so that we may never repeat such incredible injustice.

One of the greatest Americans who ever lived, Martin Luther King, Junior, had a great dream. I think he'd be a baseball fan, for the dream certainly lives in the dozens of nationalities who play in the Majors today.

If you like movies, check out this documentary on Henry Aaron's Summer Up North.