The grand adventure of creating and installing monumental sculptures of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, two of baseball most famous players, finally came to fruition.
Scott was commissioned to sculpt Babe and Lou, for Magnolia’s, Katy Ballpark at the Silos in Waco, Texas.
The purpose of the sculptures being to honor the history of Waco Texas, honor these two men and the game of baseball, and bring people together. As folks sit with Babe and Lou, picnic, chat, watch others play ball, a sense of community is fostered. Having these two men (portrayed in bronze) sitting in the stands, where folks are able to sit next to them, these sculptures are meant to be approachable. Two of baseball’s greats chilling, having a good time, waiting for their turn at the plate. Part of the plaque at Katy Park reads, “In 1929, the New York Yankees came to town to play an exhibition game, giving Wacoan’s a chance to watch legends like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.”
The sculpting process started in November of 2020. Amazing amounts of research and communication ensued for 18 months. Finding historically accurate details made ’the boys’ come to life. For instance, Babe Ruth wore custom pitcher’s shoes (with an extra layer of leather sewn on the outside ‘toe-side’ of each shoe). Both men were left handed hence the gloves where sculpted appropriately. Lou liked his jersey’s sleeves to drop below the elbow, Babe liked his elbow length. Both men preferred a different length of bat. Scott has portrayed the two men as friends, sitting together enjoying a baseball outing. The two pieces are meant to work together as one sculpture, with an emphasis on the men being approachable. Scott wanted people to be naturally drawn to them, to come close, sit close, put their arms around them, and just hang out.
As both men were bigger than life…in real life, these monuments of Babe and Lou were sculpted a bit larger than life.
On May 25, 2022, ’The Boys’ were installed with their bats, mitts and balls, ready for the big reveal the next day.
What an amazing honor to work with the folks at Magnolia.
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