By Lindsay Smith/ THE WICHITA EAGLE/TNS
(Source Florida Courier):
WICHITA, Kan. — An act of vandalism at a Wichita park was finally rectified Monday when a new version of League 42’s Jackie Robinson statue was unveiled at McAdams Park.
The original statue was stolen in the middle of the night in January, with only the shoes left behind. The theft garnered attention in Wichita and nationally, which led to $700,000 being raised for the nonprofit baseball league and Major League Baseball offering to cover the cost of rebuilding the new statue.
“People tell me all the time that they can’t believe the silver lining that has come from this, and they’re right, it’s been an incredible, positive, joyful experience,” Bob Lutz, the founder of League 42, said to the crowd.
League 42, named after Robinson, is a youth baseball league founded in 2013 that serves several hundred inner-city and low-income youth every year.
The statue now sits on a pedestal at the improved Jackie Robinson pavilion. The statue, both the original and the new, was designed by John Parsons, who died in 2022.
“When Bob approached him about creating the Jackie sculpture he was all in,” Carol Parsons, John’s widow, said at the unveiling. “I will say, John was a nationally recognized sculptor, he had pieces all over the United States … but this was the pinnacle of his career.”
The summer heat did not stop the Wichita community from showing its support on Monday, as the event brought in hundreds of people, including some from out of state.
The statue was unveiled by League 42 players and one of the players, Marcus Jones, spoke at the event.
“Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major League Baseball, and he was one of the greatest players of all time, and he put a spark in all of us,” Jones said.
Also in attendance included three former MLB players — Jeremy Guthrie, Dellin Betances and CC Sabathia.
“Someone asked me earlier today, what made me come here,” Sabathia said to the crowd. “It was me wanting to show up, you know, Jackie showed up every day of his life.
“I love what Bob and this community is doing with League 42. Growing up as a kid I would have been playing in League 42, I would have been one of these little kids. So I love the way you guys are showing up for this community.”
MLB’s Chief Baseball Development Officer, Tony Reagins, also shared words with the audience.
“Today is a great day — a great day for healing [and] a great day for resilience,” Reagins said. “Our hope is that the many of thousands of young people that will play on these ball fields behind us will come to know how baseball, how this community, how this country and even the world, rallied around a tremendous wrong and made it right.”
The man who stole the statue, Ricky Alderete, was sentenced to roughly 15 years of prison last week. Alderete pleaded guilty to multiple counts in three different cases including aggravated criminal damage for stealing the statue.
