Gene Hermanski

Gene Hermanski (May 11, 1920 – August 9, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball outfielder from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, who attended Seton Hall University. Originally signed by the Philadelphia Athletics in 1939, he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers on August 14, 1943, and played his final game on September 22, 1953. A teammate of Jackie Robinson during Robinson's groundbreaking years in Brooklyn, Hermanski proposed that all Dodgers wear No. 42 to protect Robinson from reported sniper threats. He died in Homosassa Springs, Florida, at age 90.