LOVELAND, Colorado – While wax coating a cast of Jackie Robinson, metalworker Alex Haines reflected on the added importance of a project that will soon give the city of Wichita, Kansas, a replacement bronze statue of the baseball icon after thieves brazenly destroyed the original. .
“A lot of sculptures come through here,” Haines said at the Art Castings studio in Loveland, Colorado, where the original statue was cast. “Some are a little more important than others. And this is definitely one of them.”
It all started in January, when thieves cut down the original statue by its ankles, leaving only Robinson’s cleats at McAdams Park in Wichita. About 600 children play there in a youth baseball league called League 42. Its name comes from Robinson’s uniform number on the Brooklyn Dodgers, with whom he broke the major league color barrier in 1947.
The news spread widely and a national wave of donations followed that allowed Wichita to quickly reorder a replacement.
“There has been a lot of luck when it comes to the 42nd League throughout our entire existence,” said Bob Lutz, who is executive director of the Little League nonprofit that commissioned the statue. “It’s almost like there’s someone looking out for us. And certainly in that regard, we felt like… there was a guardian angel making sure we could make this statue again.”
As news of the theft spread, the nonprofit was inundated with an estimated $450,000 to $500,000 in donations. This includes a $100,000 grant from Major League Baseball, which will cover the cost of replacing the $45,000 statue and other improvements, including landscaping and adding decorative bollards that will prevent people from driving too close to the statue. statue.
The rest of the money raised will go toward improving some of the nonprofit’s programming and facilities. Last year, the group opened the Leslie Rudd Learning Center, which includes an indoor baseball facility and learning lab. There may even be enough money to add artificial grass and more lighting, Lutz said.
Another blessing for Lutz is that the replacement will look exactly like the original, which was created by his friend, artist John Parsons, before his death in 2022 at age 67.
“If that wasn’t the case, I don’t know if I would feel as good about all of this as I do,” Lutz said.
The situation appeared dire five days after the theft, when firefighters found burned remains of his statue while responding to a trash can fire in another park about 7 miles away from the site of the theft.
A man has pleaded guilty and the investigation continues into a crime that police say was motivated not by racial animosity but by plans to sell the bronze for scrap.
It was a stupid plan, said Tony Workman, owner of Art Castings of Colorado. The city where the company is located, about 50 miles north of Denver, is known for its abundance of sculptors and artists.
“The problem is you can’t light a fire in a dumpster hot enough to melt metal,” Workman said. “All you’re going to do is burn the sculpture. Then you will still be able to tell what it was.”
In addition to rebuilding the statue, the bronze cleats cut from the original statue found a new home last month at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.
It’s a suitable location. Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, paving the way for generations of black American players. He is considered not only a sports legend but also a civil rights icon. Robinson died in 1972.
“The outpouring of support that people have gotten as a result of this reminds us that light truly does come out of darkness,” said Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
At the museum, the cleats are part of an exhibit that also includes a gunshot-riddled sign that was erected outside Robinson’s hometown near Cairo, Georgia.
“It renews our spirit and belief in people because sometimes people do despicable things and it makes you want to give up on people,” Kendrick said. “But you know you can’t give up on people, even if sometimes you want to.”
One recent morning, Miami financial services worker Emilio Estevez stopped to look at his cleats. He described Robinson as an inspiration — both because of his athletic ability and his ability to withstand ridicule while integrating the sport.
“We can all learn from this,” he said.
And the thieves couldn’t take it away, Estevez said.
“He’s still on all of our minds. He is still very present, like here at the museum, very present,” she said.
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Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas.
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