Chicago Cubs superstar Kris Bryant is shining a light on spinal cord research by having three respected Chicago artists design three pairs of Adidas baseball cleats for him to wear during “Players Weekend” Aug. 24-26, a holiday Major League Baseball celebrates to allow players to customize what they wear in games.
Those three pairs of cleats are being auctioned to support Wings for Life, a non-profit organization, which funds spinal cord research. Each pair of Adidas Energy Boost Icon 4’s also express Bryant's desire to hopefully play for Team USA in the 2020 Summer Olympics. Baseball has been missing from the Olympics since 2008, and will be returning in 2020, but MLB players have never participated. Historically, it's been college players and minor leaguers who have comprised the rosters. He will be wearing the “USA Baseball Cleat” by Lauren Asta; the “Tokyo Cleat” by Frank Quintero; and the “2020 Cleat” by Miss Merlot.
Each pair was tagged by the artist and an official Major League Baseball hologram sticker is included as the certificate of authenticity. Each pair also has a theme of “Wings” to raise awareness for spinal cord injury and the inside sole has a Wings for Life logo.
Spinal Cord Injury is near to Bryant because he is friends with Cory Hahn, a former All-American high school baseball player who was paralyzed sliding into 2nd base in 2011 while a freshman at Arizona State University.
Check out each pair of cleats below and help support spinal cord research. Learn more at www.wingsforlife.com.
