Sunday, August 30, 2009

Babe Ruth To Be Immortalized At Citi Field

Fred Wilpon has made it well-known that he grew up as a Brooklyn Dodger fan. His love of the Dodgers can be seen in the design of Citi Field. From the Ebbets Field-like exterior to the Jackie Robinson Rotunda to the Ebbets Club, Brooklyn Dodger references are everywhere at Citi Field. Even the '47 shop, which sells nostalgic apparel, is a reference to the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers, a team that lost the World Series to the Yankees in seven games.

However, Fred Wilpon was born in 1936. That made him only two years old during the 1938 Brooklyn Dodgers season, which more than likely made him too young to immerse himself in Dodger blue. Imagine his surprise when he found out that Babe Ruth spent the 1938 season as a Dodger coach!

Wilpon has now decided to add a statue of Babe Ruth adjacent to the Taste of The City food court in center field to commemorate Ruth's one season in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform. He has enlisted the experts behind the incredibly lifelike Craig Biggio statue in Houston (see photo, right) to design the Ruth statue. The uncanny resemblance to Biggio made Wilpon's choice that much easier. However, Wilpon has asked for mustard stains on the side of Ruth's Dodger cap instead of bird poop to better reflect Ruth's legacy. This also explains the positioning of the statue near the food court.

In addition to the statue, the Mets will be holding a Babe Ruth Day at Citi Field. In conjunction with the promotion, fans attending the game will receive a voucher for discounted hot dogs and beer. There will also be a barbershop quartet singing the National Anthem and God Bless America. They will be dressed in vintage Brooklyn Dodgers uniforms and will most likely look like this:


Will the fans approve of the latest Brooklyn Dodger reference at Citi Field? Will discounted hot dogs and beer bring them out to Babe Ruth Day? Will a bird leave a deposit on Ruth's statue anyway?

These questions and more will be answered at a later date. However, we at Studious Metsimus already have an idea since we're in tune with today's Mets fans. Brooklyn now has its own team to celebrate in the Cyclones. Dodger fans of yesteryear have now switched allegiances to the Mets. Therefore, there can only be one word to express what we think of the Babe Ruth statue and day at Citi Field and that word is...



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