Flaherty's cleats honor late Cards legends

Jack Flaherty is entering the 2021 season in style -- while honoring some Cardinals legends.

The Cards ace posted to his Instagram story Tuesday afternoon showing off a brand new pair of cleats, with one shoe paying homage to Bob Gibson and the other to Lou Brock -- a pair of baseball Hall of Famers and Cardinals icons who passed away in 2020.

On the instep of the left cleat, which features Gibson, is a depiction of the St. Louis arch, surrounding the Cards logo. On the right cleat, opposite the Brock homage is a mural of other Black baseball legends, including several other Cardinals.

The personalized cleats come from Kickasso Kustoms, an artist based out of Flaherty’s hometown in Los Angeles, and they are one way in which the 25-year-old is honoring the St. Louis legends with whom he came to be close.

“Anyway you can honor those two Cardinal legends, especially with something that one of my buddies and I -- we talked about what can we do for at least for Opening Day and for the season -- that was something we came up with to honor both of them,” Flaherty said on Wednesday. “Just absolute legends, Cardinal legends, baseball legends, and it came out great. It's going to be fun to wear them.”

Flaherty’s unveiling came on the heels of announcing a partnership with BodyArmor sports drink on Tuesday morning, which is paired with a $5,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.