The Jackie Robinson statue that sits outside of MCU Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones in Coney Island, was found defaced Wednesday morning with racial slurs and symbols, and police are still looking for the vandals responsible.
The statue of Robinson, a historical figure for Brooklyn, baseball and African Americans everywhere, was defaced with hate-filled messages written in black marker. Swastikas and racial slurs such as "Die n----r" were written on the base of the statue, which depicts the former Brooklyn Dodger and teammate Pee Wee Reese standing next to each other. "Heil Hitler" was also reportedly on the statue.
A photo of the statue before it was defaced can be found here.
The Cyclones are not happy with the defacing of one of baseball's most influential figures.
"The statue is a symbol of tolerance. It's an absolute tragedy that someone would deface it the way they did," Cyclones' director of communications Billy Harner told the New York Daily News, outraged by the fact that someone would mark the statue with such negative and closed-minded words and symbols.
The Cyclones say the vandalism occurred after the Cyclones game Tuesday night, which the team lost 4-1 to Connecticut. Stadium workers were able to scrub off the top of the statue on Wednesday morning, but weren't able to remove the markings on the base of it.
Robinson, whose number '42' hangs in the retired numbers section at every MLB stadium, had a .311 career batting average with 1,518 hits 137 homeruns and 734 RBIs. Robinson played in 1,382 career games after breaking the color barrier and becoming the first African American to play in the Majors with his debut in 1947.
Robinson won the Rookie of the Year Award in his first year in 1947, and went on to be a six-time All-Star, one-time World Series champion (1955) and National League Most Valuable Player and Batting Champion (1949)
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.