Numbers, Trivia and ReFirement…

SHIFT 42... Numbers…there are ‘lucky numbers’, ‘phone numbers’, ‘symbolic numbers’, oh let’s not forget ‘lottery numbers’, the show ‘Numb3rs’, ‘superstitions numbers’, the ‘unlucky number 13’, ‘spiritual numbers’, ‘mathematical numbers’ with real, complex, rational and irrational numbers…and on and on into. Not to say that they aren’t important, as Sir Isaac Newton could surely attest. But sometimes, as for this guy, numbers are just fun. Of course it doesn’t hurt that numbers just ‘stick’ in my head. Yeh, I’m the guy who remembers his credit card number and the dates when family was born and died and all that stuff. 

But really…what does this all have to do with SHIFT 42?

Jackie Robinson - #42

Perhaps the greatest number in all of sports is number 42. Though many black men and women fought for equality in many areas of life prior to and during Jackie’s time, it was Jackie Robinson who became the one to break the color barrier in all of sports. Our own Seattle Mariner Ken Griffey Jr. considered Jackie to be so significant that on April 15, 1997 he wore number 42 (from his then usual 24) on the 50^th anniversary of Jackie’s first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers. That year, Jackie’s number 42 was retired from all of baseball (except those 12 who wore 42 at that time). Then in 2007 Griffey asked for permission to wear 42 again in honor of the 60^th anniversary. Griffey was not only given permission, all of baseball has decided that on April 15^th that every player can wear number 42 in Jackie’s honor. Wow, what a tribute! The last of baseball players ever to wear this number is Mariano Riviera of the NY Yankees. Once he retires the number belongs only to Jackie.

 So…numbers…Jackie Robinson…number 42, really what does it have to do with reflections of my fire service career? ...Perhaps nothing, but maybe everything. Life is not just about being a teacher, a doctor, a salesman, a business owner, a landscaper, a baseball player or a firefighter. No…it’s about character. The kind of character that Jackie displayed is that of which I strive. Not that I’m a Jackie Robinson…but his character…that’s reproducible.

April 15 of every year...wearing #42

As I come closer to this milestone in my life I’ve been thinking about what’s next? I’ve used the term ‘ReFirement’ for the past 10 ten years or so. Perhaps I’ll define what this means to me further in coming posts. For now suffice it to say that it particularly includes living a life of great character before, during and after ones career.

Mariano Riviera...the last ballplayer to wear #42

So on SHIFT 42 I give tribute to baseballs number 42.