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It’s the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers and it was a good night to get out the #42’s for every Dodger and Padre player. But the fun got started on the field before the game as Rachel Robinson and her family joined the likes of Brooklyn righty Don Newcombe, Earvin Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Harrison Ford (Branch Rickey in the movie 42) who threw out the first pitch. Even Rickey’s great grand-daughter was on hand to sing the national anthem.

Ford to Mattingly

I hadn’t seen Rachel Robinson in 6 years (which I reminded her in our group interview) and she still looks amazing at the spry young age of 90. And she was in a nice talkative mood especially when I asked her about the new movie ’42’…

I was ready to get the best position to interview Mrs. Robinson

Magic, Rachel, Sharon Robinson, and Newcombe

Dodger minority owner and front office guru Earvin Johnson also stopped to say a few words before taking part in the pregame ceremony and reiterated what he told us the day he took over with the club…how Jackie Robinson opened the doors to all future generations including himself!…

On her way off the field Mrs. Robinson walked past a gentleman she’s known forever. Mr. Tommy Lasorda and it was a nice exchange before I got once last opportunity to thank her as it was time to watch a little baseball and to root on her beloved Dodgers.

Rachel greets Tommy right in front of me after wrapping up pregame

42’s in the Dodger dugout during the national anthem

And then it was time to play ball as the Padres quickly got the lead on a 2nd inning 3-run homer by ex-Dodger lefty Eric Stults off of Chad Billingsley something that didn’t shock his former batterymate A.J. Ellis…

I also got comments from a few of the guys about wearing the 42’s and how special it is to be a Dodger on Jackie Robinson Day…first manager Don Mattingly…

And then Matt Kemp on wearing 42 and the long blue stirrups like the old days and what’s going on with his team these days…

And Adrian Gonzalez loved his first time wearing 42 as a Dodger but he also surprised me with a story about his wife and her connection with the Boston marathon as we chatted about today’s tragedy in Adrian’s former city…

Oh by the way, the Padres spoiled the Dodgers party with a 6-3 win but it was a special night to remember celebrating the past while dealing with the reality of today’s whackos in this world!

Batting practice without my gloves on

April 15 no longer means it’s just another awful tax day…it’s also Jackie Robinson Day in baseball and something that should be in the thoughts of the rest of our society as well. Great timing (and not by coincidence of course) that the movie “42” has just been released and I’m hearing excellent reviews so this is one flick that I am actually looking forward to seeing.

It’s been six years since the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball and it was in 2007 that my station KFWB was in the final year of being the Dodgers flagship station. So we were fortunate to be involved in the ceremonies at the Ravine that day when Jackie’s widow Rachel and her family were celebrated in the event.

photo by Kevin Reese

Mrs. Robinson did 3 interviews that day…one during the ESPN telecast, one between innings of our KFWB broadcast, and the other with little ‘ol me in the walkway behind the studio where another legendary Brooklyn Dodger does his work–Vin Scully. The following is our brief sitdown chat which included Rachel’s recollection of the first day that Jack played for the Dodgers in Ebbett’s Field…

After our brief chat I told Mrs. Robinson and her foundation rep about my personal collection of U.S. Postal first day covers which includes dozens with Jackie’s likeness on them after his commerative stamp was issued back in 1982. Rachel had never seen most of what was in my collection and she liked them so much that she asked if I would be ok with having them displayed in the proposed Jackie Robinson museum in New York City? What do you think my answer to that was??? OF COURSE I WOULD!!! I’m still waiting for that museum to become a reality to this day as my Robinson FDC’s are patiently awaiting that moment in the J.R. foundation’s offices.

Jackie Robinson FDC

I also spoke with former Brooklyn Dodger Cy Young award winning pitcher Don Newcombe that day and we reminisced about his earlier days including the first game that Jackie ever played in…and it surprised me that Newk was in Ebbett’s Field to see it at the age of 19…

Hanging with Jackie’s Brooklyn teammate Don Newcombe

Monday night the Dodgers host the Padres in their first get together since last week’s bench-emptying debacle in San Diego. But pregame will be all about Jackie Robinson day with Rachel and her family in town to be a part of the ceremonies. Here is the scheduled itinerary as sent by the Dodgers in their media release:

All auto and stadium gates will open early at 4:40 p.m. Pre-game ceremonies will begin at 6:50 p.m. with first pitch at 7:10.

Dodger Stadium will be decorated with prominently placed 42 logos on the pitching mound, dugout, near the foul pole and baselines. There will also be Jackie Robinson Day jeweled bases and lineup cards and a special tribute video that will be shown in-stadium. The Dodgers’ uniformed personnel will all wear number 42. The Dodgers will be joined by Jackie’s wife Rachel, Sharon and Jackie’s son David Robinson. The Dodgers will also pay tribute to Dodger Hall of Fame catcher and three-time NL MVP Award winner Roy Campanella and Dodger Special Advisor to the Chairman, 1956 NL MVP and Cy Young Award Winner Don Newcombe.

The 17-member choir of Dodger owner Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s church home, West Angeles Church of God In Christ, will sing the national anthem. Kelley Jakle, the great-granddaughter of Branch Rickey, Brooklyn Dodgers’ General Manager who signed Jackie Robinson, will sing “God Bless America.” The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by Academy Award® nominee Harrison Ford who stars in Warner Bros. Pictures “42” as Brooklyn Dodgers’ GM Branch Rickey. Sharon Robinson will officially start the game with “It’s Time for Dodger Baseball!”

Hopefully I’ll get the chance to say hello to Rachel again but even if not and stealing a line from a great song—Here’s to you Mrs. Robinson, we appreciate you more than you will ever know. Thanks for the sacrifices and contributions to society that will be felt forever and welcome back to L.A.!

photo courtesy Titleist Australia New Zealand

Suddenly he’s no longer known as one of the best golfers in the world to not win a major and 32 year old Adam Scott’s 9th PGA Tour victory today was finally what he’s been looking for…and he looks quite good in a green jacket, too! The entire country of Australia has also been waiting forever for their first Masters champion having to deal with a few of Greg Norman’s meltdowns at Augusta. But this time Scott made 2 of the clutchest putts in Masters history first to get into a playoff against the gutty Argentinian Angel Cabrera and then to beat him on the 2nd extra hole. And it was a reaction for the ages as Adam realized his entire nation’s dream while doing it during a constant rain.

It was also a good feeling for me having been around Scott during a few of his highest highs and lowest lows in the game. Adam turned pro in 2000 after attending UNLV and 5 years later won his 4th PGA Tour event at the then Nissan Open at Riviera Country Club. Since it was rain-shortened to just 36 holes it did not go into the record book as an official tour win. But it was nice of Adam to give me a live phone interview as he walked off the wet green on that Monday morning on his way to his champion’s newser.

I’ve chatted with Adam a few times since but nothing compares to last year at The Open Championship where he was first the 3rd round leader at Royal Lytham and St. Anne’s. The following is our post match interaction on the chances of winning his first major at the time.

Ernie consoles Adam at The Open photo courtesy csmonitor.com

Then we all remember Scott’s collapse in the final few holes that allowed his good buddy Ernie Els to take home the Claret Jug instead…and the following shows my difficult task of having to ask the guy who just walked off the 18th green, how it feels to choke away a major?

Congratulating Ernie on winning another Claret Jug

And finally I got to be the first to ask Els what it’s like to win The Open again while doing it in the face of his friend who let it get away? But first Ernie and I joked a bit about his long odds of winning this one…

And moving on today’s ultimate achievement, here is much of Adam’s post Masters newser which starts out by an introduction from a fellow Aussie and Scott continually gave cudos to many who have contributed to his success…

Congrats to Adam Scott and it’s great he can feel the elation that he’s been waiting forever for…and AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE! 🙂

The ultimate putts

And let’s not forget to congratulate the long anchoring putter, who completed it’s career grand slam with today’s win by Adam…so will that make the legality of it in the governing body’s eyes a better or worse possibility now? STAY TUNED!

Faldo loves that green jacket

If you enjoy anything about golf you’re likely watching the final 9 holes at the Masters as I’m posting this. And when you finally see the champion put on that green jacket you’ll still be listening to the two-some in the broadcast booth complete another incredible week of tradition—‘unlike any other’ as CBS Sports Jim Nance annually calls it along with his 18th green partner Nick Faldo who has 3 green jackets still hanging in his closet.

I ran into Nance after Brandt Snedeker’s championship newsconference at Pebble Beach in February and thought that you might like to hear from the soft spoken lead announcer who’s calling his 28th Masters which is something he only dreamt about as a kid. I’ve always wondered how Jim feels about broadcasting that incredible stretch of classic events from the Super Bowl to the NCAA ‘March Madness’ and then right into Augusta.

When I saw Faldo wandering the practice greens at Riviera Country Club a few weeks later before the start of the PGA’s Northern Trust Open, he gave me several minutes of insight that will keep the interest of any true golf fan including his thoughts on a potentially special Tiger-Rory rivalry.

The last time that Brandt Snedeker was in a perfect position to win the Masters he blew up on Sunday in 2008 with a 77. Somehow I don’t think that will happen tomorrow as the 5th ranked player in the world goes into the final round at Augusta National in a tie for the lead with 2009 Masters champ Angel Cabrera the 43 year old Argentinian who’s fallen to #269 on this planet. El Pato (the duck) as he’s known back home has only finished in the top 10 four times in the last 4 years on tour but he always seems to rise to the occasion in the majors (especially at Magnolia Lane).

As for Sneds…he’s as good a guy as you’ll meet in sports just a regular Joe (or Brandt) who I’ve occassionally had the pleasure to connect with as in last year at The Open Championship where he was the midway leader at Royal Lytham and St. Anne’s and he talked about that experience with me afterwards…

Then this past December at the Tiger Woods hosted World Challenge event in Thousand Oaks. I chatted with Snedeker for a few minutes on the driving range where we talked about playing in So-Cal and how he sees what it will take to win his first major?

Snedeker with Sobel at Tiger’s World Challenge:

Coincidentally, the next time I ran into Snedeker he had just won at Pebble Beach where I asked him a few questions during his championship newsconference… I recall ending his day with one final question. Since his goal was to the be the #1 American golfer what about winning a green jacket to help him get there? Here’s that exchange:

Experience and confidence can be a deadly combo at Augusta…and then how it sounds to finally be called a major champion? All the best to Brandt Snedeker who told me that the color green suits him just fine…but it’s a long way to the finish line even with just one round left!

Inbee Park is hoping to kiss another trophy tomorrow

World #4 Inbee Park is playing at least up to her Rolex world ranking if not even better with back to back 67’s while increasing her lead over USC grad Lizette Salas to 3 shots going into Sunday’s final round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship. The winds were not as much of a factor today as first thought so they just went out and played their games with Park putting herself in a great position to win her 2nd major and first in 5 years on Sunday.

Here’s my post-round chat with Inbee who was all smiles and ready for the big challenge:

Lizette is just as cool chatting it up with me as she is on the course

Meanwhile Salas who’s now ranked 40th in the world was disappointed in missing a birdie putt on 18 and also in her overall ball striking on Saturday but had a great attitude about the entire day afterwards…And it certainly was fun introducing Lizette onto the 18th green in which I must admit that I gave her a little extra ooomph for her local throng who’ve been following her throughout:

Behind Lizett who’s at 9 under par overall—there’s a 6 pack of players who are 6 shots off the lead so it’s really up to Park or Salas to win this thing tomorrow. Hope to see you out there when it’s time for the champ to jump into Poppy’s Pond.