For MLB’s Players Weekend and in honor of the Wings for Life Foundation, Chicago Cubs’ Kris Bryant will be unveiling three different pairs of customized cleats that shine a light on spinal cord injury research and the three cities that gave him wings – Las Vegas, San Diego and Chicago.
Three acclaimed Chicago street artists customized Bryant’s Adidas Energy Boost Icon 3’s, inspired by a “wings” thematic. The inside sole of the cleats also has a special touch – a Wings for Life Foundation mark – in honor of an organization dedicated to finding a cure for spinal cord injury (SCI).
Bryant is friends with Cory Hahn (pictured below), a former All-American high school baseball player who was paralyzed sliding into 2nd base in 2011 while a freshman at ASU. As you know, SCI also touched former Dodgers and Hall of Fame legend Roy Campanella, who fractured the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae and compressed the spinal cord in a car accident in 1958.
Here are the street artists involved in the project:
Sentrock – Game 1: Las Vegas cleat
To kick off the weekend, artist Joseph Perez – aka “Sentrock” – used inspiration from Bryant’s hometown of Las Vegas.
Jc Rivera – Game 2: San Diego cleat
Street artist JC Rivera took on the San Diego cleats, in honor of Bryant’s University of San Diego days when he became a nationally known name in the world of baseball.
Max Sansing – Game 3: Chicago cleat
Artist Max Sansing, who was born in Chicago, has a history with Kris Bryant dating back to Summer 2016 when he collaborated on a stunning mural of the player that is still up in the heart of Chicago’s Wrigleyville.
