Jackie Robinson West Sues Little League

It has been a long time since anything was said about Jackie Robinson West. The Chicago-based team lost their Little League World Series title when it was revealed that they manipulated district lines to basically create an All-Star roster. Months later, they have decided to sue Little League over the stripped title.

Jackie Robinson West Sues Little League

Jackie Robinson West became the Cinderella story of the 2014 Little League World Series. They originally lost to Nevada, but fought through the losers’ bracket to get a rematch in the United States Little League final. They would go on to defeat Nevada, yet eventually lost the world championship to South Korea. Still, this was a fantastic feat for the small Chicago team that hails from the impoverished South Side.

In February, Little League revealed the findings of their investigation into Jackie Robinson West’s illegal recruitment process. They believed the team and officials purposefully redrew the district lines, thus creating an All-Star roster. As a result, the team and its coach, Darold Butler, were suspended from Little League play, Illinois’ District 4 administrator Michael Kelly was dismissed from office and, worst of all, they were stripped of their title.

But Jackie Robinson West decided to not go down without a fight and began investigating the accusations. However, their investigation has been consistently stonewalled by Little League, thus the reason for the lawsuit. “It is my position that Little League has not met any burden whatsoever to establish that these men are not the rightful champions from last summer,” Victor Henderson, West’s attorney, said. “Little League refused to sit down and talk to us. We asked them on multiple occasions, in writing, if they would sit down and speak with us… [on] the rational and bases for their decision. And they told us ‘no.'”

Henderson also claimed that there was evidence of wrongdoing, but this was mainly due to mistakes and clerical errors. But the biggest accusation he threw at Little League and their investigation was how he believed Jackie Robinson West was unfairly scrutinized because of its predominately black roster. While he conceded it was not the only issue with the investigation, he believed it certainly played a role in the process.

Article by Anthony Falco