A youth baseball league in Wichita, Kansas, will unveil a brand new Jackie Robinson statue Aug. 5, changing the unique work that was reduce from the bottom, eliminated and vandalized earlier this 12 months, Bob Lutz, government director of League 42, instructed ESPN on Friday.
Artwork Castings of Colorado, an artwork foundry 50 miles outdoors of Denver, is creating the substitute statue. The artist, John Parsons, died in 2022, however the foundry is utilizing his unique mould.
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Ricky Alderete, 45, was arrested after the statue went lacking in January. He pleaded responsible final month to theft and different prices. He may face greater than 19 years behind bars when he is sentenced July 1, the district legal professional’s workplace instructed ESPN.
Utilizing surveillance video, police stated not less than three folks have been current when the statue was reduce, leaving the bronze replicas of Robinson’s cleats behind. The cleats have been donated to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri. No different arrests have been made.
The statue, which police stated was valued at $75,000, was stolen from McAdams Park, the place League 42 performs its video games. Police have stated they do not consider the crime to be racially motivated, primarily based on what they know presently. As a substitute, they consider it was “motivated by the monetary acquire of scrapping widespread metallic.”
