Major League Baseball and its 30 clubs will replace the Jackie Robinson statue that was stolen before being burned and destroyed in Wichita, Kansas.
The statue was cut off at the ankles and stolen on Jan. 25 before being found in a trash can on Jan. 30.
According to ABC News, officials are calling the theft of the statue a “disgraceful” act after it was stolen from McAdams Park and later found beheaded, burned and thrown in a garbage can. Surveillance video caught the thieves around midnight entering the Jackie Robinson Pavilion, taking the statue in a pickup truck after cutting it at the ankles.
The Robinson statue was found destroyed in Garvey Park days later, and Wichita Police Department spokesperson Andrew Ford said the statue was on fire when it was found. The damages are estimated to be $75,000, per ESPN.
“Shortly after extinguishing the fire, the fire department saw what appeared to be pieces of the Jackie Robinson statue, which is not salvageable at this time,” Ford told CNN.
“It’s really disheartening to see the remnants of the statue, the disgraceful way it’s been disrespected,” said Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan. “This is a direct indication of the pressure our investigators are putting on the perpetrators that committed this act.”
Robinson broke color barriers in baseball back in 1947 when he became the first Black man to play Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues before joining the Dodgers. He was named the National League’s MVP in 1949 and helped the team win the 1955 World Series. Robinson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962, 10 years before he passed away. His number, 42, was retired in 1997.
The Jackie Robinson statue was created by artist John Parsons.
Major League Baseball and Bob Lutz announced on Jan. 31, which would have been Robinson’s 105th birthday, that they were replacing the statue. Lutz is the executive director of League 42, a local youth baseball league in Kansas that donated the statue in 2021. Lutz began a GoFundMe after the statue was stolen. According to MLB, more than $156,000 has been raised. Lutz also announced that MLB will help support League 42 on the field as well as with their academic goals.
Lutz also said that one of the biggest donations, $10,000, came from an anonymous former Major League Baseball player who won a World Series. Parsons has passed away, but according to Lutz, the mold used to make the bronze statue is still viable, and he believes a replacement statue can be made.
“We value what it represents,” Lutz said of the statue. “It’s important that our 600 kids understand what it represents. And we make every effort to educate our kids about the role that Jackie Robinson played in life and civil rights, his life beyond sports. He’s the absolute best role model you could imagine.”
The Wichita Police Department said on Jan. 29 that they found the truck used to steal the statue, but they did not provide additional details about the thieves.
League 42 was founded in 2013 and welcomes children between 5 and 14 for the baseball league.
“We’re not just baseball,” Lutz said of League 42. “We have after-school education, enrichment and tutoring.”
The league supports more than 600 kids on 46 different teams.
