WHAT A BABE

Clay model sets base for baseball legend's statue

Derek Phillips, Patti Nichles, John Muldoon, Debbie Paulk, Pauline Muldoon and Tommy Muldoon on 09/27/2021 at Horner Hall in the Hot Springs Convention Center (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins)
Derek Phillips, Patti Nichles, John Muldoon, Debbie Paulk, Pauline Muldoon and Tommy Muldoon on 09/27/2021 at Horner Hall in the Hot Springs Convention Center (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins)

HOT SPRINGS -- Majestic Park is another step closer to having an 8-foot-tall statue of baseball legend Babe Ruth at its entrance. A clay model of what will be a bronze statue when finished was revealed Sept. 27 at Hot Springs Convention Center.

Donors and friends of Majestic Park gathered in the lobby of Horner Hall to be the first to preview what the final sculpture will look like.

According to a news release from Visit Hot Springs, the statue depicts "Ruth in his New York Yankees uniform just after he has swung the bat, watching as another home run sails toward the outfield fence."

Artist Chad Fisher was on hand for the preview and spoke about how he has worked closely with Babe Ruth historian Bill Jenkinson for accuracy on the project.

The five-field Majestic Park complex is scheduled to be complete in 2022 and is being built on the site of the former Hot Springs Boys and Girls Club, previously one of major league baseball's first spring training sites.

-- Story and photos by Cary Jenkins

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