Dodger Stadium will finally add its first statue, and it will be one of Jackie Robinson.
The announcement about plans to add a statue of the man who broke MLB’s color barrier came in April. At the time, the plan was to have the statue unveiled later in the year. Now the team says the statue will come in 2016 at a to-be-determined location at the stadium.
The Dodgers also announced they have hired a sculptor to create the statue.
“The Dodgers have a rich history of breaking barriers, and it all began with Jackie Robinson in 1947,” said Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten. “Therefore, it is altogether fitting that our first statue at Dodger Stadium be of Jackie. The class that Jackie exhibited, while still performing at the highest level, made everything that has happened since — not only in baseball, but in many respects throughout American society — possible. It is with great humility and joy that the Dodgers launch this project in concert with Rachel Robinson and the Jackie Robinson Foundation. We know Branly Cadet’s artistry will result in a tribute to Jackie that will resonate with Dodger fans for decades to come.”
The Dodgers have plenty of worth candidates for a statue such as franchise icons Vin Scully, Sandy Koufax, Duke Snyder and Tommy Lasorda, but none are more deserving than Robinson. Let’s just hope the statue at Dodger Stadium is treated much better than his one in Coney Island.
