Bronze Statue of Babe Ruth at Hot Springs’ Majestic Park
The eight-foot bronze statue of baseball immortal Babe Ruth that was dedicated today (February 6, 2023) could still be standing a thousand years from now, according to sculptor Chad Fisher’s father, Fran.
The Ruth statue, one of only three known bronze sculptures of the Hall of Fame legend, now stands at the entrance to Hot Springs’ Majestic Park baseball complex, where Babe, Cy Young, Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron and dozens of other baseball greats trained and played in the 20th Century when Hot Springs was renowned as The Birthplace of Major League Baseball Spring Training. The other Ruth bronzes are in Baltimore, Md., and Japan.
The completed sculpture was transported by truck from Pennsylvania to Hot Springs by Chad Fisher and an assistant. “We don’t let the statue out of our sight after we create it,” Fran Fisher said Installation of the statue at Majestic Park took “about five hours, which includes unloading, uprighting, unwrapping, measuring and marking the base for holes, drilling the holes in the granite, affixing the stainless steel anchors to the statue, testing the fit and finally permanently installing the statue with Hilti 500 epoxy.”
“The statue of Babe is based on an eight-foot figure,” he said, “therefore the total composition with bent knees and bat is about seven and a half feet high. If Babe was standing up straight, the total would be over eight and a half feet — plus the height of the base.
