Key Points:
--Thieves stole Jackie Robinson statue from League 42 home facility in McAdams Park.
--Public support and donations pour in to restore statue and reinforce security.
--League 42, a popular and diverse baseball league, remains resilient and ready for the season.
League 42 Executive Director Bob Lutz was a bit off-balance by Wednesday night, three days after thieves cut down and hauled off the Jackie Robinson statue that enhanced the entryway to the children’s baseball league’s home in Wichita’s McAdams Park.
No motive for the deed has emerged and, so far, no suspects have been arrested. The statue was found Tuesday just a few miles away, in a local park dumpster, cut in pieces and set on fire.
Lutz said he is “not capable” of trying to understand what had to be going on in the minds of the perpetrators of the crime.
“It’s just so ignorant and senseless and destructive,” he said about the incident that gained national attention.
But the public response to the incident and the support shown for the 11-year-old baseball league that gives kids from low-income families a chance to learn to play baseball, has been overwhelming.
What really has been amazing, Lutz said, is the public groundswell of support and the overwhelming financial support for restoring it.
A GoFundMe established to support League 42 had set a $100,000 goal to replace the statue. “I’m now being told not to be surprised if we raise two or three times our goal,” he said. “If we do, we’ll put the money to good use supporting our teams, our education initiative and other outreach efforts.”
In only 72 hours, the fund met its goal, with donations pouring in from all over the country, and so the group increased the goal to $175,000 to account for reinforcing the security around the statue with new landscaping and a new design.
Lutz said he has been in touch with the Colorado foundry where the bronze statue was cast and has been assured that the mold is intact and viable to be used to cast a new statue.
“We’ll be getting started on that as soon as we can and enjoy six months before it arrives working on the new design and landscaping [for the entry area], and ready to celebrate its return,” he said.
League 42 was founded in 2013 and has been a popular and rapidly growing league.
“We have lived a very peaceful life at McAdams Park and taken great satisfaction in helping kids learn to play baseball,” he said.
Lutz said the league’s 600 players are almost equally divided among White, Hispanic and Black players with a sprinkling of other minorities.
Practice for the 46 League 42 teams will begin March 11 and the season-opening games will be played April 15 – which is, coincidentally, Jackie Robinson Day.
He said League 42 filled up in three registration days and there is a waiting list.
“We make it affordable to families and our league is close-knit. All our families support one another.”
Lutz said he has been told that police are following leads and expect a quick resolution to the case.
