Jackie Robinson statue cleats heading to Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

WICHITA, Kan. — The bronze cleats from a Jackie Robinson statue that was lower on the ankles and stolen final month might be donated to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, the league’s govt director advised ESPN on Friday.

“We thought it was absolutely the proper factor to do,” mentioned Bob Lutz, who based and operates League 42, which was named after the baseball Corridor of Famer and civil rights icon. “It is wanting just like the cleats might be delivered by April 11, positively earlier than Jackie Robinson Day [April 15].”

Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, mentioned Friday that there are plans to have a ceremony when the cleats arrive on the museum. Kendrick mentioned the cleats possible might be displayed alongside a historic marker from Robinson’s birthplace in Cairo, Georgia — a marker that was broken by gunfire in 2021 and was donated to the museum.

“We’ve got a narrative to inform,” Kendrick mentioned.

The statue, which police mentioned was valued at $75,000, was stolen from McAdams Park, the place League 42 performs its video games. Police mentioned they do not consider the crime to be racially motivated, primarily based on what they know presently. As an alternative, in response to police, it is believed that it was “motivated by the monetary acquire of scrapping frequent steel.”

Utilizing surveillance video, police mentioned there have been at the least three people current when the statue was lower, leaving the bronze replicas of Robinson’s cleats behind.

On Jan. 28, police recovered a automobile that it believed to be related to the case at an condo complicated in Wichita. Two days after that, fireplace crews discovered burned remnants of the statue whereas responding to a trash can fireplace at one other park about 7 miles away.

On Feb. 13, police introduced the arrest of Ricky Alderete, 45. He was charged with felony theft (worth over $25,000), aggravated prison harm to property, identification theft and making false data. A Wichita police officer advised ESPN that he believes there might be extra arrests within the case.

Lutz, a former Wichita newspaper reporter, based the league a decade in the past in a grassroots effort to supply an outlet for youths and to extend native African American participation within the sport. It now has greater than 600 gamers, makes use of 4 fields and gives an indoor exercise facility with synthetic turf, together with after-school tutoring and monetary literacy packages.

The statue of Robinson was erected within the park in 2021.