Adidas is working hard to make sure baseball icon Jackie Robinson’s legacy lives on.
On the 70th anniversary of Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier, the athletic giant will release special editions of its Adizero Afterburner cleat and Icon Turf Trainer sneaker.
The Robinson-inspired Adizero Afterburner boasts a cream and bronze upper with gold foil detailing. The bronze hue, according to Adidas, is a tribute to the legendary Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, the place where Robinson started and finished his career. (The park’s facade appears on the heels, too.) Adidas also used brown and black tweed stitched stripes as a nod to the suit jacket Robinson wore the day of his retirement, and stitched his career stats on the pull-tabs.
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The Icon Turf Trainer, executed predominantly in a dark bronze hue, also boasts elements spotted on the matching cleat, such as tweed as a nod to Robinson’s retirement suit jacket, and gold foil detailing his career stats on the heel tabs. The sneakers feature a leather heel and a reinforced heel clip in the shape of Ebbets Field.
Both the cleat and turf shoes come with insoles that feature a sketch of Robinson sliding into second base.
The Adizero Afterburner will retail for $120, and the Icon Turf Trainer will come with a $100 price tag. Both models arrive via the Adidas, Eastbay and Dick’s Sporting Goods web stores.
In addition to releasing the performance-ready looks, Adidas is also installing a new baseball field at the legend’s alma mater, John Muir High School in Pasadena, Calif.
According to Adidas, 20 of the brand’s employees, who volunteered their time for the project, put the field together. The brand stated the baseball and softball field will serve the school’s students and also promote the surrounding community’s little league participation.
“Jackie Robinson changed the game of baseball forever,” Tauna Dean, director of Adidas Social Purpose, said in a statement. “He showed us what breaking barriers looks like. We believe that through sport, we have the power to change lives and we want to help positively impact lives by removing barriers to sports for kids who might not have an opportunity to play otherwise. This new baseball and softball field is just one small way we can help our sports community.”
Baseball and softball teams at the high school will wear special uniforms and the cleats during their games on Jackie Robinson Day (April 15).
