At Behest of Derek Jeter, Marlins Park’s Much-Ballyhooed Statue “Homer” Is Going, Going, Gone

When a Miami Marlins player hits a home run at Marlins Park, a towering, colorful sculpture just beyond the center field fence comes to life, shooting gallons of water into the air and sending mechanical marlins, seagulls and flamingos dancing over the arches of the artwork. But ever since the sculpture, titled Homer, was first commissioned in 2012, it has proved divisive among Marlins fans. Some think Homer is “unique and playful,” an embrace of the kitschy fun of retro Florida. Others feel differently— one Miami New Times reporter called it a “seven-story monstrosity [that] makes a complete mockery of Miami’s actually cool status as a tropical paradise.”


The naysayers have gotten their way. As Douglas Hanks of the Miami Herald reports, a Miami-Dade county board has approved the relocation of the statue to an area outside the stadium. Derek Jeter, the former Yankees star who is now the Marlins’ owner and CEO, was one of the main entities behind the push for Homer’s relocation. Red Grooms, the 81-year-old artist behind the sculpture, opposes the move.

Jeter and his partners bought the team last year from Jeffrey Loria, an art dealer who collects Grooms’ work and recruited him to craft the statue for $2.5 million. When he acquired the team, Jeter and his supporters proposed getting rid of the statue to make way for a multi-level standing-room area where fans can watch the games for just $10, according to Sarah Cascone of artnet News. The space, they hoped, would bolster the Marlins’ sagging attendance rates. In 2018, according to Cascone, the team brought in only 811,104 fans, the lowest attendance rates in baseball since 2004, when the now-defunct Expos were preparing to leave Montreal.

When asked if he liked the sculpture, Jeter has sidestepped the question. “It’s big,” he told reporters. “I mean, it’s unique. It’s a unique sculpture.”