A Youth League’s Stolen Jackie Robinson Statue Has Been Replaced

Earlier this year, members of a youth baseball league were shocked to learn that a statue of Jackie Robinson had vanished from their ballpark in Wichita, Kansas. Now, six months later, officials have unveiled a replacement—and the players in League 42 (named for Robinson’s jersey number) finally have their hero back.

On January 25, thieves entered McAdams Park and cut through the bronze statue’s ankles, leaving behind only Robinson’s feet. Word of the robbery spread, and the league ultimately received $500,000 from Major League Baseball and other donors to replace the statue, as MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince reports. Among the donors was 8-year-old Marcus Jones, a League 42 player who contributed $2 from his allowance.

“Jackie Robinson was the first African American in Major League Baseball,” Jones said at the unveiling of the brand-new Robinson statue on August 5, per MLB.com. “And he was one of the greatest players of all time. And he put a spark in all of us.”

Created by artist John Parsons, the original statue was installed at McAdams Park in 2021. It remained there until the burglary in January. Five days later, firefighters found burned remnants of the statue smoldering in a trash can.

Police later arrested Ricky Alderete, 45, who pleaded guilty in court, according to the Associated Press. At his sentencing, Alderete explained that he was addicted to fentanyl, and he had taken the statue in order to sell the bronze.

The original statue had been cast at a foundry in Loveland, Colorado. Fortunately, Parsons’ original mold was still viable, and foundry staffers were able to use it to create a copy. The copy was then transported to Wichita, where it was unveiled before hundreds of supporters, including former professional baseball players CC Sabathia and Dellin Betances.

“I knew that this statue theft was going to be a pretty big deal,” Bob Lutz, League 42’s founder, tells Peter O’Dowd of WBUR’s “Here and Now.” “But I don’t think I could have predicted it would be as big a deal as it was, and I credit the impact of Jackie Robinson, all these years later. He’s an iconic figure in American history, and you don’t mess with Jackie.”

There’s good news out there. Here’s the unveiling of the Jackie Robinson statue at Wichita’s League 42, replacing the one stolen back in January. They rebuilt it. Higher. pic.twitter.com/bVGmwgs40P

— Anthony Castrovince (@castrovince) August 5, 2024

Born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919, Robinson was a pioneering baseball player and civil rights leader. In April 1947, he played his first game as a Brooklyn Dodger, breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier for the first time. Robinson won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1947 and the Most Valuable Player Award in 1949, and he was the first Black player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.

When Lutz founded League 42 in 2013, he picked the name because Robinson’s legacy encapsulated the spirit of the league he wanted to build.

“It’s a perfect name, and it carries a lot of responsibility,” Lutz tells MLB.com. “You can’t name a league after Jackie Robinson and half-ass it with sportsmanship and behavior. So we keep an eye on those things. And we want our kids to behave, our coaches to behave, our spectators to behave. So that’s really important. It’s not just a talking point, it’s a real thing.”

According to the New York Times’ Hank Sanders and Amanda Holpuch, Lutz met privately with Alderete and offered his two children spots in the league.

Sonja Anderson | READ MORE

Sonja Anderson is a writer and reporter based in New York City.