Robinson gets statue at Dodger stadium

He was the first black man to play in the major leagues, ending six decades of racial segregation, and a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Fittingly, Jackie Robinson is the first to be honored with a statue at Dodger Stadium. It will be unveiled Saturday on the 70th anniversary of his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Two years ago on Jackie Robinson Day, owner and chairman Mark Walter suggested a sculpture belonged at Dodger Stadium of the six-time AllStar second baseman who starred when the team was in Brooklyn.

“He just felt it was an idea whose time had come,” said Janet Marie Smith, the team’s senior vice president of planning and development.

The 77-inch tall bronze statue depicts Robinson as a rookie in 1947 stealing home, a nod to his aggressive baserunning. It weighs 700 pounds and is secured with a 150-pound steel rod.

NFL

NFL REACHES OUT TO TODD HEAP >> Condolences poured in for retired NFL player Todd Heap and his family on Saturday, a day after police say the former Pro Bowl tight end accidentally ran over his 3-year-old daughter with a truck, killing her.

Heap was moving the truck at his home in Mesa, a Phoenix suburb, on Friday when he struck the girl, police said. She was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The Baltimore Ravens, Heap’s longtime former team, called the accident “knee-buckling news and an overwhelming tragedy.”

Jay Feely, who played with Heap on the Arizona Cardinals, wrote on Twitter: “My heart is broken for Todd Heap and his family. One of the kindest persons I’ve ever met and a man who lives for his family.”