Robinson statue unveiled at stadium
Event marks 70 years since he broke color barrier in baseball.
LOS ANGELES — A bronze statue of Jackie Robinson stealing home was unveiled at Dodger Stadium on Saturday — an idea stemming from a meeting shortly after the team’s new ownership took control in 2012.
Dodgers chairman Mark Walter had just met Robinson’s wife, Rachel, when he rose and approached her.
“He pulled Mrs. Robinson aside and said, ‘We’re going to get a statue of your husband,’ ” team co-owner Magic Johnson said. “And he backed it up.”
I t ’s t h e f i r s t s t a t u e a t Dodger St adium, and its unveiling came on the 70th anniversar y of Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier. Baseball celebrated its annual Jackie Robinson Day on Saturday, when all players and coaches wore his No. 42.
“Every advancement in society has come from people standing on the shoulders of giants,” Dodgers President Stan Kasten said. “And in the history of baseball, in the history of our country, few people have stood taller than Jackie Robinson.”
A p r e g a me c e r e mo ny included Frank Robinson, baseball’s first black manager; Dodgers Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully; Robinson’s children Sharon and David; Kasten and Johnson.
Rachel Robinson, 94, also attended, as did Robinson’s former teammates Sandy Koufax and Don Newcombe and Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda.
“This was a great moment for all Dodger fans, for baseball fans,” Johnson said. “I’m just happy. I’m bubbling over.
“I t ’s f u n ny, I ’ m mo r e happy because of his statue than the two I got (Staples Center, Michigan State).”
David Robinson was born in 1952, too young to grasp his father’s impact as a child, but he said he understands it clearly now.
“B a s e b a l l r e a l l y h a s achieved a coming together of people over the 70 years and continuing that great impact on society,” David Robinson said.
Branly Cadet sculpted the 77-inch bronze statue, which depicts Robinson as a Brooklyn Dodgers rookie in 1947 stealing home, a nod to his aggressive base running. It weighs 700 pounds and is secured with a 150-pound steel rod. It stands in the left field reserve plaza, with sweeping views of downtown Los Angeles in one direction and Elysian Park in the other.
The l o c a t i o n was c ho - sen because it’s where the majority of fans enter the hillside ballpark that opened 55 years ago.
On the st atue’s granite base are three of Robinson’s quotes as chosen by the family, including Rachel’s favorite: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”
“Our goal was to both celebrate Jackie Robinson as an athlete and to acknowledge the important role he had in civil rights and social change in America,” said Janet Marie Smith, the team’s senior vice president of planning and development.
The family shared numerous photos of Robinson with Cadet, who lives in Oakland, Calif.
“They really wanted me to get the likeness and I assured them I’d be working very hard on that,” he said. “That was the element I spent the most time on to capture an expression that would be happening in that moment.”
A l s o i nv i t e d S a t u r d ay were about 50 members of Robinson’s extended family, the majorit y from his late brother Mack’s side of the family in nearby Pasadena. That’s where the Georgia-born Jackie grew up and first became a four-sport standout in football, basketball, track and baseball at John Muir High. He played all four sports at Pasadena City College before going on to UCLA.
“This is going to be a very special time,” Sharon Robinson said. “My dad was a humble person, and here he is 70 years later being recognized. He used to come home and say, ‘I got a standing ovation today,’ and he would be so shocked.”
The first 40,000 fans at Saturday’s game against Arizona received a replica of the statue.
Robinson’s statue at the ballpark is the eighth of him, the most of any American athlete, according to t wo British researchers.
Statistician Chris Stride from the University of Sheffield and Ffion Thomas, a doctoral candidate from the University of Central Lancashire, have cataloged Robinson’s monuments as part of their Sporting Statues Project database.
They found just two of his existing statues depict him playing baseball, while the rest commemorate Robinson’s social achievements or association with a particular location. Two oversized busts of Jackie and Mack Robinson, an Olympic track medalist, are located across from Pasadena City Hall.
“Each of the statutes, and given their location, reflects the tot alit y of the man,” Sharon Robinson said. “He would have wanted that very much.”
Since 2004, baseball has honored Robinson’s barrier-breaking career every April, the one day ever y player on every team wears his retired No. 42 jersey. The players’ union is making a grant this week from its Players Trust to the Jackie Robinson Foundation.
“It’s not about looking back so much as it is feeling inspired,” Sharon Robinson said.
“There’s still lots and lots of struggles in this world and it’s a very complicated place. Jackie Robinson showed us you can stand up, be strong and be respected, and play great ball under tremendous pressure.”