WASHINGTON -- As Major League Baseball commemorated Jackie Robinson Day across the league the past two days, the Nationals took the opportunity to also host Black Heritage Day on Tuesday at Nationals Park to honor the contributions of African Americans in baseball and in the D.C. area.

This marks the 100-year anniversary of Robinson’s birth, and all players and on-field personnel donned black Jackie Robinson T-shirts pregame during batting practice. During the game, everyone will don the uniform No. 42 on their jersey in his honor, as they have since 2009.

“Not only for the game of baseball, but for the whole country, what he did and how he did it, it’s incredible,” Nats manager Dave Martinez said. "It tells you what a strong man he was to endure some of the things he had to endure for this game.”

But the Nationals found other ways to honor Robinson’s legacy and impact of African Americans in baseball.

On Tuesday, they hosted alumni, students, parents, facility and fans from Howard University as well as alumni and scholars from the Jackie Robinson Foundation, who were scheduled to participate in a pregame ceremony. The president of the Senators Satchel Page Little League, Andre “Smokey” Lee, an advocate of youth baseball in D.C., was tabbed to throw out the first pitch. Throughout the game, they plan to air video tributes highlighting great African Americans in baseball.

“Today’s always special for me,” reliever Tony Sipp said. “Obviously the things that Jackie Robinson sacrificed back then while he was playing, I don’t know if I would’ve checked that box off to want to be the first guy and live under a microscope. But to see what he did it and the way he lived on and off the field, the way I go about my business every day is a tribute to him, because he sacrificed a lot just for me to come here and play a baseball game and play a game for a living.

“Definitely special to me, and my tribute to him is just the career that I’ve had. Just coming to the field and appreciating the job and the chance that we’ve been given, and he’s a big part of it.”