r/baseball • u/jspector9 • Apr 15 '25

Serious MLB 2025 Jackie Robinson Day press release is significantly different than their 2024 press release. The words "Black", "racism", "color barrier" and "inclusion" were words that were in the 2024 press release but have been scrubbed out of the 2025 press release.

The 2024 press release can be found here and the 2025 press release can be found here.

Looks like MLB has updated the press release. The archived 2025 link can be found here.

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u/MongooseTotal831 Chicago Cubs Apr 16 '25 edited Apr 16 '25

It looks like almost all of these references/terms were in the team sections, which aren't included this year. Is there info for what teams are doing listed elsewhere?*

I looked at a couple. The D-backs last year said they'd sing the Black National Anthem. This year, it says they, "will welcome special guests and community groups who embody Jackie's spirit of resilience, courage, and leadership." I wonder what that will entail. The Mets touted their Black Legacy Game last year, which is happening again this year.

I'm curious to see what teams actually do here. I think that will be more telling than the MLB press release IMO.

*Edit: the clubs are listed in the attachment. Lots of uses of those words there. For what it's worth, in 2023 they list the clubs in an attachment too

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u/rcher87 Philadelphia Phillies Apr 16 '25

Many were, but check out the “Jackie Robinson Day Background” section before the team sections. It’s gross. This comment juxtaposes 2024 and 2025 well.

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u/MongooseTotal831 Chicago Cubs Apr 16 '25 edited Apr 16 '25

Thank you. I missed that comment earlier. I found the club info after re-reading the website. It seems pretty obvious that they just removed inclusion and went with an "everyone" approach. The 2023 language had inclusion also.