"I'm a big believer in the history of the game and history in general," said Tribe manager Eric Wedge, before the Indians' 5-4 victory over the Royals. "I think you have to understand why the game is where it is today and where it's come from.

"The biggest thing to me about what Jackie Robinson did is not necessarily the game of Baseball, but what he did for society. That's a real life thing. It's not just about Baseball. It's American history, not Baseball history."

Robinson integrated Baseball as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. On July 5 of the same year, Larry Doby became the first black to play in the American League as a member of the Indians . Robinson and Doby are in the Hall of Fame.

Mudcat Grant, former Indians pitcher, was at Kauffman Stadium to celebrate the day.

"We appreciated Jackie Robinson Day because of what Jackie made happen in this country, in Baseball and the corporate world," Grant said. "I would like to see more black fans in the stands on a day like this. We need to bring them back to the game."

Grant said he's going to pitch an idea to Commissioner Bud Selig.

"I'd like to see the National League teams wear Jackie's number and the American League team's wear Larry Doby's number [14]," said Grant, who was a teammate of Doby's in Cleveland in 1958. "I have that picture in my head."

Grant and Bob Kendrick, vice president of marketing for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, in Kansas City, are pushing to have Robinson and Doby's milestones linked to the Negro Leagues.

"If Cleveland celebrates Larry Doby becoming the first black man to play in the American League, then Newark, New Jersey, should celebrate it as well," Kendrick said. "Larry played for the Newark Eagles in the Negro Leagues before he joined the Indians ."

The rest of the story: Pitching coach Carl Willis isn't using it as an excuse, but he says training in Arizona for the first time since 1992 and opening the season against Texas at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington didn't help his pitchers.

"Coming out of Arizona for the first time in spring training, it was different for most of our guys," Willis said. "By no means is this an excuse because you play 162 games, but we went into Texas last year and gave up 39 runs in four games. We go in there this year and give up 29 in three games, and the starters didn't pitch well.

"The difference was last year, they all had numbers to work off of. Stats don't mean much until the end of year, but human nature being what it is, you always have an idea of where you stand and how your numbers look. But because we were working from ground zero, your numbers really get magnified. I think the guys put pressure on themselves to make up ground real fast."

Willis said all he wants the starters to do is give the Indians a chance to win.

"If they do their job, more often than not, we're going to win," Willis said.

Indians starters are 1-5 with a 9.28 ERA.

Word from CC: Here's what CC Sabathia had to say about facing his old club today in the first regular-season game at new Yankee Stadium.

"I'm excited," Sabathia told Jason Zillo, Yankees director of media relations. "It's going to be a day and a moment that I will remember for the rest of my life. My son is 5, and he'll be able to tell his kids and things like that about him going to the park for the first time."

As for facing Cliff Lee and the Indians , Sabathia said: "It's going to be a little weird. But I'm excited, and hopefully it will be a good game.

"I guess it does add a little something to [the game], but I haven't really given it too much thought. Me getting traded in the middle of last year and everything else. . . . It's just kind of ironic that it does come against those guys."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: phoynes@plaind.com, 216-999-5158