For more than a decade, Major League Baseball has commemorated Jackie Robinson with a celebration on April 15, the day he broke baseball's color barrier. This year's edition comes Friday, but MLB will honor another trendsetter during Monday's games.
Fifty years ago, Emmett Ashford became the first African-American to umpire a regular-season game, making his debut April 11, 1966, as the third base umpire in the Senators-Indians season opener in Washington. All MLB umpires will wear a patch bearing the initials "EA" on Monday as a tribute.
Today all Umpires will honor Emmett Ashford, first African-American ump in #MLB, for 50th anniversary of his debut.