This is the latest post for an ongoing media project — SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage. Pick a number and highlight an athlete — person, place or thing — most obviously connected to it by fame and fortune, someone who isn’t so obvious, and then take a deeper dive into the most interesting story tied to it. It’s a combination of star power, achievement, longevity, notoriety, and, above all, what makes that athlete so Southern California. Quirkiness and notoriety factor in. And it should open itself to more discussion and debate — which is what sports is best at doing.
The most obvious choices for No. 28:
= Anthony Davis: USC football, Southern California Sun, Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Express
= Bert Blyleven: California Angels
= Albie Pearson: Los Angeles/California Angels
= Wes Parker: Los Angeles Dodgers
= Pedro Guerrero: Los Angeles Dodgers
The not-so-obvious choices for No. 28:
= Mike Marshall: Los Angeles Dodgers
= Rui Hachimura: Los Angeles Lakers
The most interesting story for No. 28:
Jack Robinson: UCLA football running back/defensive back (1939 to 1941)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Pasadena, L.A. Coliseum, Westwood
If the only number you associate with Jack Robinson is the No. 42 — the one he was randomly given by the Brooklyn Dodgers when he made his Major League Baseball debut in 1947 — that’s understandable.
The Pasadena native wore No. 42 for 10 seasons, none of them as a Dodger in Los Angeles, retiring just before their move. Forty-two has been codified as representing a man of social justice reform and restitution on behalf of the African American race.
Yet Robinson wouldn’t have been in that position had he not made a name for himself as an athlete — with his given first name of Jack — wearing No. 28 playing football at UCLA.
A four-sport athlete at John Muir High in Pasadena, Robinson moved onto Pasadena City College. His time at UCLA in Westwood was brief, but powerfully impactful.
What number did he wear for the UCLA baseball team during his only season of 1940? No one has evidence to show that it was 42. Or any other number. This appears to be the only photo of him in a Bruins baseball jersey, in the team photo, far left.
At Pasadena City College, according to the California Community Colleges website, Robinson batted .417 with 43 runs scored in 24 games in 1938.
UCLA records say Robinson posted a .097 batting average in 1940, which included getting four hits and stealing home twice among four bases stolen in one game. He also reportedly stole home 19 times.
He wore No. 18 as a UCLA All-Conference basketball player. Yet as a football player, where Robinson made his most indelible mark, especially in Southern California.
At Pasadena Junior College, he wore No. 55 in football — that’s what he’s wearing on a statue outside the Rose Bowl honoring that part of his life. Robinson owns a school record for the longest run from scrimmage, 99 yards.
But for the two years he played at UCLA, No. 28 became quite magical.
Here’s a summary of Andy Wittry of NCAA.com pieced it together in 2024 through newspaper clippings:
Tom Hoffarth's The Drill: More Farther Off the Wall 