There will not be a Jackie Robinson statue outside the League 42 youth baseball complex in Wichita, Kansas, this season.
At least not physically.
“It won't be a physical presence, but it will be a spiritual presence,” League 42 CEO Bob Lutz told the Times in a phone interview Thursday morning. “And we will know that we will finally get that statue back.”
Last week, a bronze statue honoring Robinson that had stood outside the nonprofit youth baseball organization's playing facility since 2021 was stolen. Parts of it were found in the remains of a burned trash can seven miles away. miles away Tuesday morning, the day before the sports and civil rights icon turned 105.
Lutz has promised that an identical replacement will eventually be located in the same location, but said it would take about six months for that to happen. He said the original statue cost the league $41,500 and estimated a new one would cost $50,000.
Additionally, Lutz said, the league plans to spend about an additional $50,000 to increase security, which would include more cameras, better lighting and “landscape that will be designed to prevent people from having access to a place where a truck could back up and load the statue.” ”.
“We want to prevent those things from happening again,” he said.
All that remains of a bronze statue of Jackie Robinson in a park in Wichita, Kansas, are the baseball player's innovative shoes after the rest of the piece was stolen last week.
(Travis Heying/Associated Press)
In 2021, a statue of Jackie Robinson was erected in Wichita's McAdams Park.
(Mel Gregory/Associated Press)
Donations have been pouring in to help with the effort. In addition to a GoFundMe page that has raised nearly $180,000, Lutz said Major League Baseball and its clubs are making a “generous” donation to League 42.
“The statue is the motivation for your donation, but your money does not go directly to replacing the statue,” Lutz said.
MLB did not respond to questions from The Times for this story.
Robinson grew up in Pasadena and played several sports at UCLA. He became the first black player in modern Major League history when he signed with the Dodgers in 1947. Numerous monuments and statues honoring Robinson are found in Southern California.
The Rose Bowl and UCLA told the Times in emailed statements Wednesday that there have been no incidents or suspicious activity involving Robinson statues or monuments at their locations and that those sites remain under close surveillance. On Wednesday, the Rose Bowl celebrated Robinson's 105th birthday at a statue of him outside the historic venue in Pasadena.
“The Rose Bowl Stadium was saddened and angered to learn of the inexcusable act of vandalism to the Jackie Robinson statue in Kansas last week,” the venue said in a statement emailed to The Times.
League 42's Robinson statue was cut down at the ankles and stolen early on the morning of January 25. Police said two people were seen on surveillance video dragging the statue to a truck, which was later recovered by investigators. On Tuesday morning, burned pieces of the statue were found in the remains of a trash can fire in Garvey Park.
Wichita Police Department spokesman Andrew Ford described the original statue honoring Robinson as “non-recoverable” during a news conference Tuesday. Ford said more than 100 people have been interviewed as part of the investigation.
“There will be arrests, but we'll make sure that when we do, we have a strong case,” Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan said at the news conference.
