America 250: Jackie Robinson
In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier, becoming the first African American player in the modern era. He went on to win Rookie of the Year in 1947 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
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Butch Huskey, one of the final MLB players to wear No. 42, has died at age 54.
Huskey initially wore No. 10 with the New York Mets but changed his jersey number to No. 42 in 1995, two years before Major League Baseball retired the number league-wide in honor of Jackie Robinson.
Yet when MLB retired the number, it allowed those already wearing it — like Huskey, Mo Vaughn and Mariano Rivera — to be grandfathered in and continue donning the number on their jerseys as long as they were still playing, no matter who they played for.
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Brian McRae of the New York Mets is congratulated by teammate Butch Huskey as he crosses home plate to score on a single by teammate Alberto Castillo as Matt Franco runs from the dugout on March 31 at Shea Stadium in Flushing, New York. The Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0 after 15 innings in their home opener. (Jon Levy/AFP via Getty Images)
Thus, even when Huskey left the Mets, he was able to wear the number with the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins. Huskey also played for the Boston Red Sox in 1999 but opted for No. 44.
The Mets announced his death on social media.
Huskey made his MLB debut in 1993 but did not get full playing time until three years later with his new number. Playing mostly first base in 1996, he impressed with a .278 batting average and .754 OPS. In 1997, he improved by hitting .287 with an .822 OPS, belting a career-high 24 home runs and driving in 81 runs, also the most of his career. He took a step back the following season, though, and was traded to the Mariners the following offseason.
Outfielder Butch Huskey of the New York Mets is in action during a game against the Houston Astros at Shea Stadium in Flushing, New York, on April 27, 1998. The Mets defeated the Astros 4-3. (David Seelig/Getty Images)
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Huskey was then moved from Seattle to Boston in the 1999 season. The Sox made the postseason as a wild card, but they lost to the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series en route to the Bombers’ second of three straight World Series victories.
His last stint was with the Colorado Rockies, with whom he wore No. 35.
Huskey is the last person to wear No. 42 in Mariners history, and only four players wore it after him in the big leagues: Vaughn, Rivera, Michael Jackson and Jose Lima.
A view from behind home plate displays the art on the field in memory of Jackie Robinson during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 5-2 win over the New York Mets at Shea Stadium in Flushing, New York, on April 16, 1997. Butch Huskey of the New York Mets is the batter. (Getty Images)
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The number was retired for Robinson during one of Huskey’s Mets games against Robinson’s former Dodgers, who had since moved to Los Angeles.
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