Damaged Jackie Robinson statue finds new home at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
The bronze cleats from a damaged Jackie Robinson statue have been donated to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.
"I got tremendously emotional," said Bob Lutz.
Lutz is the founder of League 42. He was responsible for the original placement of the statue at McAdams Park.
However, the statue was destroyed only a few months later. The group was left devastated.
"This is a terrible thing, but what would Jackie Robinson have done?" Lutz asked.
In response to the destruction, the group decided to start over.
They were in Kansas City on Thursday, handing over the remnants of the original statue to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
"They will be part of a miniature Jackie Robinson shrine of things that his name and likeness have been targets against," said Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
Kendrick was shocked at the news of the vandalism.
When League 42 approached him about permanently displaying the cleats in the museum, he loved the idea.
"For us to take it in, hopefully, it will serve as something that will unify us," Kendrick said.
League 42 plans to replace the statue with a brand-new one in Wichita in August.
"It's being rebuilt as we speak, the same statue will put it right back just like Jackie would've wanted us to," Lutz said.
The group received a $100,000 check from Major League Baseball.
