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Sixty-one years ago today, Jackie Robinson walked up to the plate for the first time in a major league game and began his career with an inauspicious start, batting 0-3 against the Boston Braves. But it didn’t matter what his batting average was that day. It mattered that he was swinging.

Robinson’s story of breaking the color barrier in major league baseball is one of the most legendary stories in this country’s history (sports or otherwise), and now that story – the story of his life – is going to be brought to the big screen with ESPN and Robert Redford producing.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Redford will produce and play the role of the manager that first assigned Robinson to the minor league Montreal Royals before calling him up to the big game. Thomas Carter (Coach Carter) is set to direct.

You really can’t go wrong with this one. A sports authority and a Hollywood icon teaming up with an incredibly talented director to make the story of a national hero? Why wasn’t this done sooner? For some reason, I imagine it won’t rake in blockbuster numbers at the box office, but if they get a strong actor to play Robinson, they could be looking at the same sort of buzz that followed biopics like Ray, Walk The Line and other Oscar-worthy flicks.

I have no doubt that Redford and company will do #42 justice.