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On Saturday night, Marlins Park hosted the 2018 Walk to End Lupus Now, South Florida fundraiser. The event gave us a transitional look at the stadium, as participants couldn’t resist sharing the (temporary) void left by the relocation of the infamous home run sculpture.
Jeffrey Loria’s beloved “Homer” has disappeared from its original left-center-field spot. A white base serves as the only evidence of where it stood for the past seven seasons:
Without the HR sculpture, left-center field is now a blank canvas of limitless potential (from @mzaremba6) pic.twitter.com/5UrHeBNRUc
— Fish Stripes (@fishstripes) November 4, 2018
Even before new Marlins ownership was officially introduced, there had been hints that the sculpture would move. The team hasn’t been able to totally divorce it, but on October 16, Miami-Dade County agreed that they could exhibit it on the plaza outside instead.
Marlins president of business operations Chip Bowers says the space will be repurposed into “new seating products” in time for Opening Day 2019. The sculpture will presumably be standing tall again by then, too.
Homer had its fair share of highlights, but we look forward to a future when it no longer overshadows the play on the field.