071721...R STATUE 2...Youngstown...07-17-21...The Robinson-Shuba statue is unveiled...Jan Strasfeld, retired Youngstown Foundation President, left, and Sally Bany, Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation Chair, right, unveil the Robinson-Shuba statue during the dedication ceremony Saturday morning at Wean Park in downtown Youngstown...by R. Michael Semple

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the No. 7 top story of 2021 in Mahoning County as voted on by Vindicator staff. The countdown continues through New Year’s Eve.

By LILY NICKEL

Staff writer

YOUNGSTOWN — The first interracial handshake in organized baseball took place in Roosevelt Stadium in 1946, and in 2021, its ever-present symbolism and meaning was eternalized in downtown Youngstown.

On July 17, a 7-foot, 2,000-pound bronze statue of baseball players Jackie Robinson and George Shuba exchanging the “handshake of the century” was unveiled in Wean Park near the Youngstown Foundation Amphiteatre and the Covelli Centre. The handshake occurred on April 8, 1946, after Robinson hit his first home run for the Montreal Royals, a Triple-A affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers, off Jersey City Giants pitcher Warren Sandel.

Robinson’s white teammate, George “Shotgun” Shuba, who was on deck, reached out to congratulate him and shake his hand, which marked the first interracial handshake in professional baseball.

Shuba was born in Youngstown in 1924 and returned to the steel city after retiring from baseball in the late 1950s, where he stayed and raised a family until his death in 2014.

The idea for the statue originated when Eric Planey, a Youngstown native and former Regional Chamber vice president who now works as a New York finance executive, was visiting family in Alexandria, Va. He said he was attending his niece’s softball practice when he met a coach who also hailed from Youngstown. The coach shared with Planey the story of the handshake.

Planey returned home and looked Shuba up on the internet. His findings made him wonder why no tribute to the historic moment existed in Shuba’s hometown of Youngstown.

Planey reached out to Youngstown 1st Ward Councilman Julius Oliver to share his idea and then to Louis Zona, executive director of the Butler Institute of American Art, who referred him to noted Connecticut sculptor Marc Mellon.

In November 2019, the Robinson-Shuba Commemorative Statue Committee was formed, consisting of various community representatives, with a goal to raise $400,000 to complete the statue and dedicate it on April 18, 2021, the 75th anniversary of the famous handshake. Shuba’s son, Mike, still resides in the area and acted as a consultant for the committee.

Fundraising efforts began, and with the help of several generous donors, the committee exceeded its goal, but the original April unveiling was postponed until July because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The statue attracted national attention from networks such as ESPN and CBS, making its unveiling even more anticipated. Committee co-chair and former Vindicator regional editor Ernie Brown said the unveiling came at a time when it was most needed in the country. The announcement of the statue came shortly before the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed by white police officers in May 2020. Floyd’s death sparked months of protests across the country, and discussions of race relations soon became commonplace, which ensured the statue’s representation of reconciliation between races did not go unnoticed.

“Nothing happens by happenstance or coincidence,” Brown said. “The project came around the same time as the death of George Floyd, which showed the importance of reconciliation between races.”

Robinson is a personal hero of Brown for the battles he had to fight to succeed during his time, and Brown said he is glad he was able to be a part of the project. Brown said the statue was very well received and continues to attract attention from all over.

“I took my wife to see it, and while we were there, three other cars from out of town came to look at it,” Brown said.

After its completion, the statue was turned over to the city of Youngstown. The city is now responsible for all of its upkeep and maintenance. Brown said there are ideas to use the statue for different programs, such as school field trips in order to teach students about the importance of racial reconciliation.

lnickel@tribtoday.com