Dodgers News: Jackie Robinson Statue Replacement Almost Completed

Many sculptures come through the doors of Art Castings studio in Loveland, Colorado. Some are more important than others and metalsmith Alex Haines is inching closer to finishing a special project he holds near his heart.

It all started in January, when thieves cut the original statue off at its ankles, leaving only Robinson’s cleats behind at McAdams Park in Wichita. Haines has been tasked with giving the city a replacement bronze statue of the baseball icon after thieves destroyed the original.

“There’s been a lot of serendipity when it comes to League 42 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 somebody watching out for us. And certainly, in this regard, we feel like … there was a guardian angel making sure that we could do this statue again.”

Another blessing for Lutz is that the replacement will look exactly like the original, which was created by his friend and artist, John Parsons. Parsons died in 2022 at the age of 67 but the original mold was still viable.

“If that wasn’t the case, I don’t know that I would feel as good about all this as I do,” Lutz said.

The remaining cleats from the damaged original were donated to the Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas, Mo., which was fitting because he played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues before joining the Dodgers.

“The outpouring of support that folks have gotten as a result of this, it reminds us that light indeed does come out of darkness,” said Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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