World’s first database of baseball statues compiled by UK researchers

The first ever database of statues commemorating baseball's biggest stars, featuring legendary players, managers, owners, broadcasters and even famous fans, has been compiled by researchers from the University of Sheffield. From ballparks to sports bars, museums to city squares and schools to cemeteries, life-size bronze depictions of men, women and children enjoying the national pastime can be found all across the US and Canada. The striking database, at www.sportingstatues.com, records more than 200 baseball statues across the continent, featuring information on when the statues were unveiled, who sculpted them and the inscriptions on plinths or plaques, as well as images of each statue and links to location maps. A total of 35 US states feature a baseball statue, with 70 per cent of statues located at or close to a major or minor league ballpark. The encyclopaedia of statues shows 164 distinct players, managers, executives, broadcasters and fans are depicted. The most frequently portrayed player, with seven statues, is barrier-breaker Jackie Robinson, although strangely none of his statues are sited at a current Major League Baseball ballpark. The database shows 52 per cent of statue subjects are National Baseball Hall of Famers.