A bronze statue of baseball immortal Babe Ruth will be dedicated at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 6 at the main entrance to Majestic Park baseball complex in Hot Springs, where Ruth and other major league stars played during spring training in the early years of the 20th century, Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison has announced.
The dedication of the 8-foot bronze statue -- which shows Ruth watching after hitting a home run ball over the fence -- falls on Ruth's 128th birthday. He was born born Feb. 6, 1895, in Baltimore.
Arrison said in a news release that there are "only two other bronze statues of Babe Ruth in the world, one in Japan and one at Camden Yards in Baltimore."
The Babe Ruth sculpture was created by Pennsylvania sculptor Chad Fisher and funded by Hot Springs residents Dr. Robert Muldoon, the Hamby family in honor of the late Daniel B. Hamby Jr. and Lee Beasley. No public funds were used to fund the statue. Bill Jenkinson, a Babe Ruth historian, has been consulting with Fisher on the statue project to ensure that every detail is accurate.
Ruth's grandson, Tom Stevens, is scheduled to be part of the dedication, Arrison said.
"Baseball fans from everywhere will come to see this monument to the most famous man who ever played the game," Arrison said. "It will outlast all of us and stand tall in front of Majestic Park for future generations to remind them of the history of the site and our community."