LONG BEACH, Calif. — Electrical boxes were ripped open, tracks marked up every open patch of grass, and the lamp posts and lights had gone dark.
At Long Beach Little League, kids, parents and league officials awoke in late January to find that every bit of copper had been torn out their home field, stolen by thieves. Their season was going to be badly impacted, their plans thrown into turmoil just as practices were about to begin.
LBLL is unusual in the sense that it expects to compete for the Little League World Series title on an annual basis. It is the only U.S.-based team to win the event in back-to-back years, when the “Beach Boys” did so back in the 1990s.
In a much different sense, however, LBLL is just like everyone else, facing the harsh reality of a swiftly rising issue: Copper theft, which isn’t easily stopped, and has wide-ranging consequences.
“We’ve talked about people pulling overnight shifts at the park,” said Adriel Tedesco, the league’s vice president. “Having volunteer sign-up sheets to do overnighters.
“It should not have to come to that.”
But there’s little recourse for local parents to combat a problem resonating nationwide. The price of copper is rising — hitting a five-year high of $5.93 per pound on Jan. 23 — and that has incentivized theft, which has exploded in recent years. According to AT&T, there were just 71 reported copper thefts in California in 2021, compared to more than 2,200 in 2024.
It’s a nationwide issue, with more than a dozen states passing new laws in 2025, related to the resale of copper. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association reported 15,540 such incidents nationwide between June 2024 and June 2025, with estimates on “societal costs” ranging from $38 million to $188 million.
The thefts have downed power lines, roiled phone and internet service and disrupted communication to emergency services throughout affected communities. The damage is expensive and the impacts could be dangerous.
“It’s very simple. Copper prices are near record highs. And the higher prices go, the more incentive there is to steal as much copper as you can,” said John E. Gross, an expert on metals and the economy.
The latest victim is Little League baseball. In Long Beach alone, three leagues have felt the impact of these thefts. In addition to Long Beach Little League, the East Long Beach Pony League in Heartwell Park and the Village Baseball Little League in Lakewood’s San Martin Park have dealt with copper thefts in the last month.
“Wherever there is copper exposed, it becomes a target for stealing it,” Gross said.
The reasons for the rise in costs, Gross said, are numerous. The weakness of the dollar is pushing metal prices higher. The storage of about 8,000 metric tons of copper in warehouses has “enabled the copper market to be squeezed.
There’s also the rise in electric vehicles and the construction of artificial intelligence data centers, which experts say is contributing to increased demand. Then, there are President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which create uncertainty.
“(Donald) Trump is talking about tariffs on copper coming into the U.S. So that pushed the market higher again,” Gross said, adding that concerns over additional tariffs in 2027 and 2028 are incentivizing traders to bring copper into the U.S. more quickly.
“So you’ve got a lot of things simultaneously that have pushed the market higher.”
The trickle-down effects go beyond darkened fields, impacting things like the snack bar that essentially funds all operations for the East Long Beach Pony League. With power to the snack bar cut due to the thefts, even if daylight games are possible, a massive revenue source for the league has been removed.
And for those involved, losing the lights is not simply about the loss of practice time or games.
“It’s a feeling of being violated,” Tedesco said.
“Without the lights, the kids can’t play,” said East Long Beach Pony League president Steve Esquivel. “Baseball, ELB, it’s a family. We pride ourselves on having a community feel and everyone loves each other.”
In October, California lawmakers passed Assembly Bill No. 476, which requires businesses purchasing “junk” metals to gain additional information about the acquisition, and keep more detailed records about where the materials originated. It also increased the potential for fines, and jail time, as a result of violating the updated statute.
But enforcement of the law will be difficult, with the consequences of theft extending far beyond baseball. Catching the Little League perpetrators will also be a challenge, as thefts occur at night and the thieves often look for areas outside the view of surveillance cameras.
The Long Beach Police Department told The Athletic in a statement that it’s “actively investigating” the incidents, and is “committed to identifying those responsible and holding them accountable.”
“We recognize the impact these incidents have on residents and families who rely on these shared spaces,” the department said, “especially our Long Beach youth who use our baseball fields, and we take these incidents seriously.”
The belief among most Little League officials is that an experienced individual or crew of thieves is responsible. Stealing copper out of boxes could otherwise be dangerous, and requires some baseline electrical education.
At Stearns Champions Park, where LBLL plays, Tedesco said the theft occurred over three days — but didn’t impact their field until the final night. At San Martin Park, the witness that called 9-1-1 told The Athletic that the thief or thieves left a lever hoist tool at the scene.
Trey Buckley, the building property and committee chair for the Village Little League, said he believes the copper that powers overhead stadium lights is typically more valuable, which further incentivizes specifically targeting their parks.
“It will impact our youth sports, for sure,” Buckley said. “They produce their schedule intending to use night lights. They schedule intending to go until 8:30 at night. Now, all of a sudden, they go at this time of year until dark. They’re down to 5:30, and lose a whole game, if not a little bit more.”
It was a hot, late January morning at Stearns Champions Park, the home of Long Beach Little League. Armando Escobedo, an electrician for the city, was on his knees, digging through loose wiring next to a massive light stanchion overseeing the field.
He’d been called out to make the repair, part of a multi-day project that will ultimately sap the city’s resources and cost around $5,000 to fix. All for what Escobedo estimated was about $1,000 in copper.
“In the last six-to-eight months,” Escobedo said of recent thefts, “it’s been ridiculously crazy.”
Once everything is fixed and patched up, the lights will come back on and baseball will go on, uninterrupted. But Escobedo quickly acknowledged that there’s nothing to stop the thieves from coming back, and inflicting the same harm. After all, Heartwell Park, he said, had been hit three months ago, and was hit again earlier this month.
In San Martin Park, the electrical boxes were reinforced with silicone, adding an extra obstacle for the thieves. But one park official was pessimistic when asked if any of these measures will actually stop further theft. Ultimately, there is little that can be done to solve this, particularly considering the limited resources of the leagues and city budgets.
“We’re going to have to come up with something different,” Escobedo said.
Some of the repairs have already taken place, like the silicone additions to San Martin Park, and the work that Escobedo did to repair the lights for Long Beach Little League. Both leagues were at the whim of the city, its quickness, and willingness to pay for the repairs. The league’s connections to local politicians potentially helped spur the process.
But nothing is to stop it from happening again, and again, and again. Both in Long Beach Little Leagues and across every community in Southern California.
Tedesco said last year’s team was on the cusp of Little League World Series contention, and expects this year’s team to be better. The only thing holding them back, they fear, is another theft, one they feel nearly powerless to prevent.
“The biggest shock is, you know, most of us live within a mile of the park,” Tedesco said. “People are coming into the place where our family hangs out. We feel safe to leave our kids to roam around the park. It’s a family environment.
“And when you realize there’s that sort of crime taking place right there, it takes you back. It’s a disheartening feeling. Like, ‘C’mon man. It’s Little League baseball.’”