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But, even if behind schedule, it was eventually resurrected in its new home outside of the stadium for fans to enjoy in Feburary 2020. The artwork, which has been located beyond the center field fence, will be replaced by a tiered standing-room-only area for spectators. Fans have abandoned the team amid the turmoil.
Traditionalists like Jeter — a former New York Yankees shortstop — tended to dislike it, while supporters found the pop art very Miami. Back in the days of Bill Veeck, baseball used to do this better than anyone. That “PHOOOSH” of flying water is the echo of our lost national greatness.
Win for Jeter: Marlins’ home run sculpture will be moved
Relocating the piece is better than destroying it, but this was a lot of effort — The Herald detailed the contentious process — for a change that had literally nothing to do with making the Marlins a better baseball team. I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t like the Marlins home-run thing when they first unveiled it. But it grew on me — it became part of the Marlins’ identity. It as weird and fun, and baseball needs more weird and fun.
Perhaps it was the Marlins’ 2003 World Series win over Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees that eventually sealed Homer’s fate. See, in 2017, maligned owner Jeffrey Loria sold the team to a group led by Jeter. A blaring fever dream that bridged the gap between reality and mimosa-and-mescaline-fueled weekends along the Miami Beach Boardwalk. It was loud, it was wonderfully absurd, it made no apologies for any of the fun and havoc it caused , and even the local wildlife loved it. Jeter and company might have to reimburse the county the $2.5 million cost of the structure if the move lessens its value as a piece of art. Loria, who sold the Marlins a year ago, commissioned the $2.5 million sculpture for the opening of Marlins Park in 2012.
An Ode To The Marlin’s Bizarre Home Run Sculpture, 10 Years Later
More fans on average attended LSU home baseball games than Marlins games last season. Sending the sculpture to another ballpark might appease Grooms, and Spring laughed at the idea of a trade. But he declined to endorse even a straight-up deal for, say, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis or the Mets' home run apple.
The same team that had won World Series titles in 1997 and 2003 was mired in mediocrity. From 2012 through 2018, the team never finished above .500 even as stars like Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, JT Realmuto, the late Jose Fernandez and an aging Ichiro Suzuki graced the field. From the start, it was pure Miami, the most on-brand thing about the South Florida baseball experience. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Marlins home run sculpture to be removed, making room for fans
New ownership, with Jeter as its face, has not fared much better with the public since taking over in 2017. The approval to move the county-owned sculpture came down Tuesday from Miami-Dade County officials at the behest of minority owner Derek Jeter, who has made clear since joining the team that he wanted “Homer” gone. Not the fans, not the players, not the critics. And that’s saying something when you consider the then-new stadium also boasted a fish tank with live fish behind home plate.
Like the Marlins, however, Homer does have a few fans. They consider the pop art very Miami, and right at home in a ballpark with garish green walls, a nightclub in left field and fish tanks behind home plate. According to The Miami Herald, the team won permission from the county to remove the home-run thing from the stadium and place it outside in the plaza. So while the artwork isn’t leaving Miami , it won’t be in the stadium to celebrate the occasional dinger from a Giancarlo Stanton-less baseball team. The vote was a victory for Marlins CEO Derek Jeter, who can now remove from the ballpark one reminder of unpopular previous owner Jeffrey Loria's regime. Former Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, an art dealer, played a major role in the design of the retractable-roof ballpark.
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The artwork, which has been located beyond the center field fence, will be replaced by a tiered standing room-only area for spectators. It seemed inevitable when Derek Jeter took over with the Miami Marlins that the super-fun-home-run-sculpture thing in the outfield would be removed. Jeter and the mayor had been scheming about the $2.5 million piece’s removal since January. Loria left town as a villain, having made a fortune while orchestrating a publicly funded stadium and fielding a team that hasn’t made the postseason since 2003. As for Homer’s fate, it appeared to be in limbo after being removed from the park.
The Marlins agreed to pay the county up to $2.5 million if Grooms opts to remove his name from the work, per the Herald. “Homer,” the mechanical sculpture featuring flashing lights and dancing marlins that come to life with every home run, is being shipped from the outfield. The old mayor who hated the sculpture is gone, off to Congress where he can do more damage to our nation than public art.
"I am a fan of it. I think it brings fans out, so I think they should keep the home run structure," another fan said. "Everybody is used to it and they are so accommodating with it. I do not think it is a good idea," baseball fan, Amelia Concepcion said.
After several years of futility, Jeter announced in early 2022 he was leaving the Marlins. And then those in-stadium aquariums were removed before the beginning of the 2021 season. The Marlins will remove the seven-story "Homer" sculpture from Marlins Park. The Art in Public Places board of Miami-Dade County unanimously voted Tuesday in favor of the Marlins' plan to relocate the colorful, mechanical artwork to a location outside the ballpark, a source told MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. The Miami Herald was the first to report the news.
Eventually, the sculpture will be placed on the plaza outside the ballpark, where it will be visible to the public. Marlins CEO Derek Jeter and his lamentable inclinations have reportedly won a grim victory. Personal prints, cards and gifts, or reference for artists. Pre-pay for multiple images and download on demand.
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