Milton Coronado’s artwork is exhibited throughout Chicago.
Now the Mexican-American artist from Chicago’s craft is on display on the grounds of one of baseball’s most historic stadiums.
Coronado worked with Cubs interpreter Fredy Quevedo Jr. and pitcher Javier Assad to design a pair of cleats for Players’ Weekend. The Air Jordan 1 cleats were painted green and featured the Mexican seal, Assad’s name and number, the Cubs logo and the logo of his team in Mexico, the Naranjeros de Hermosillo.
(WATCH: How Milton Coronado and Javier Assad collaborated to create his unique football boots)
“They are beautiful,” Assad said. “I was surprised. They are very beautiful. I liked them very much. They come from Mexico and are really beautiful.”
Coronado works on his art in his spare time after his 9-to-5 job. He estimates he spent “over 15 hours” on the spikes. On Friday morning, Coronado was on the field before the game and handed them to Assad. It was the first time the two had met in person.
“It’s great,” Coronado said. “I’m honored. I’m flattered. It’s really a really nice feeling. But it’s so cool to understand and see and experience that once you’re connected, he’s just another human being, a humble player from Mexico who loves the game and just wants to give back to the fans.”
And it created a lifelong memory for Coronado.
“It means so much to me because as a young Cubs fan back then, I couldn’t understand or see a player that I could connect with,” Coronado said. “But now we connect not only with Assad as a Mexican player, but also with (Isaac) Paredes.”
“It’s great for me, it’s great for my son and a lot of other Cubs fans here in the city of Chicago.”
