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Jackie Robinson, the Flatbush legend who broke baseball’s color barrier, is returning to the Dodgers.
The Jackie Robinson Foundation, created by Rachel Robinson, Jackie’s widow, in 1973, is a partner in the Magic Johnson-Guggenheim Partners group that this week announced a record-setting $2.3 billion deal to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers, The Post has learned.
In addition, Rachel Robinson will sit on the Dodgers board of directors. The not-for-profit foundation is in talks with the group about getting an equity stake in the storied franchise, sources said.
“Magic thought about Robinson a lot,” one source familiar with the bidding group said last night.
Johnson was honored by the Jackie Robinson Foundation in 2002, the source noted, and it was then that he got to know Rachel.
The Magic-Jackie association is poignant.
Magic Johnson is the first African-American owner of a Major League Baseball club. Jackie was the first African-American Major Leaguer.
Robinson starred for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1947 to 1956, before the team moved to LA.
Johnson’s group has quietly been working with the Robinson Foundation for months as part of the buying group. But because the foundation works closely with Major League Baseball, it stayed in the shadows so there would be no fallout if Magic’s bid came up short, a source said.
Johnson believes the foundation can help with community outreach.
Chicago-based financial-services firm Guggenheim Partners is the big money behind the Johnson group buying the team. Guggenheim CEO Marc Walter will be the controlling owner.
MLB is expected to approve the recommended offer, sources said.