New ‘Legendary Yankees’ mural honors living Black baseball icons
Aaron Judge and C.C. Sabathia with artist André Trenier. All photos courtesy of the New York Yankees
The Bronx Children’s Museum last week unveiled “Exhibiting Possibilities: Legendary Yankees,” an outdoor mural featuring six living Black baseball legends and former Yankees, including Willie Randolph, Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Derek Jeter, C.C. Sabathia, and Aaron Judge. Created by Bronx native André Trenier, the artwork is part of a larger project from the museum to inspire children in the neighborhood to dream big.
The murals can be found at the Bronx Terminal Market, just minutes from Yankee Stadium and across the street from the Bronx Children’s Museum. The murals feature Randolph and Jackson together, Jeter and Winfield, and Sabathia and Judge.
Randolph, Winfield, Judge, and Sabathia were present at Thursday’s unveiling and spent time meeting young baseball fans.
Presented in partnership with the museum, the Players Alliance, and the New York Yankees, the murals are the first of many artworks as part of the museum’s “Exhibiting Possibilities” project. The Players Alliance is an organization devoted to increasing diversity throughout baseball.
“So many kids are going to come to and from that children’s museum, and when you see [people] that look like you, it makes the reality that it’s a possibility,” former Yankee Curtis Granderson, president of The Players Alliance, said, according to MLB.com.
“For the players that we put on these walls—Derek Jeter, Reggie Jackson, Willie Randolph, Dave Winfield, Aaron Judge, and CC Sabathia—these are players that are still here with us to accept the flowers that we have for them, our way of saying thank you. Historically, a lot of times people get their mural when they’re no longer here to accept it. I think it was a great opportunity to show different generations being passed on.”
Raised in Kingsbridge, Trenier was inspired to become an artist by his mother, who is also an artist. He has since become an acclaimed muralist and is the current artist-in-residence at the Andrew Freedman Home, which has deep ties to the community and the Bronx Children’s Museum, according to the Bronx Times.
“It’s like a dream come true,” Trenier said to MLB.com. “I’ve been blessed to be able to beautify the 161st Street area and River Avenue with plenty of my favorite players; this was something special. I think it’s great that they’re pushing for Black kids to get involved in baseball.”
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