Jackie Robinson? A.G. Robinson from ENT: "First Flight"? Rain Robinson from VOY: "Future's End"? Andrew J. Robinson?
I seem to recall reading somewhere that DRGIII had a famous baseball player in mind when naming a ship, as a out of universe nod to Sisko's love for the game. Not 100% sure though...
Wasn't the Robinson already in service when Sisko took command? I doubt he would have been involved in the naming of the ship or specifically choosing it.
^As stated, it was an out-of-universe nod, something the author felt would be appropriate, but that implicitly has a different origin in-universe. Within the story, it's probably named after A.G. Robinson.
It is probably Jackie. Note that the ship's registry number is NCC-71842... make note of the final two digits.
Don't be silly. It was obviously named after Will Robinson, one of Earth's most celebrated space explorers. "Danger, Will Robinson!"
^ That should totally be the "in-joke" quote on the dedication plaque, were the Robinson ever to be immortalized on television or in a film!
So which one of you emailed David with the question? Here's his answer: (from Facebook) https://www.facebook.com/DRGIII/posts/10151441587346493 (For non-Facebookers, he denies it being named after Jackie.)
Hahaha, even better! David R George III's quote - on his facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DRGIII/posts/10151441587346493 Fascinating! I wonder where the initial idea for the name came from, in that case?
You might want to change that to a link. I've talked to David on Facebook a couple times, and he would prefer people not quote him directly off of Facebook.
Some of us do NOT "do Facebook." Ever. For any reason. (And I once had to make it clear that if given a choice between taking charge of, or even materially participating in, my company's Facebook presence, or immediate termination of employment, I'd quit in a heartbeat.)
The registry NCC-71842 is a very obvious Jackie Robinson reference. "718" is the area code for Brooklyn, where Robinson played, and "42" was Robinson's number.