The Physics of Ballpark Statues

Statues of great ballplayers placed in and around MLB parks have become as popular as Cracker Jacks. The on-going remodel of Wrigley Field added a statue of Ron Santo. The Giants recently unveiled a likeness of Gaylord Perry. Even teams that have avoided the practice are getting into the act. The Los Angeles Dodgers announced this year they will install their first. As you might guess, Jackie Robinson will be the honoree.

You might think that each team’s web site would proudly list their statues and maybe even include a picture and some information. How wrong you would be! There seems to be no up-to-date comprehensive list of player statues maintained by MLB.

However in 2010, Larry Granillo published his personal ranking of the best statues at MLB parks. His list was built by searching for photos on Flickr. The Sporting Statues Project (ironically, a British website) maintains a list of US and Canadian Baseball Statues and appears to be very up-to-date.

Below is my attempt at a current list as of MLB ballplayer statues at MLB parks. Please note that I have only included statues of specific individual former MLB players. I have not included statues of groups of players (except in Boston) or those of owners, founders, announcers, or other non-players.

The links on the park names go to the MLB park information sites (just in case you are interested in something other than the park’s statues). The links for each player go to a photo of the statue itself. I sometimes used the link from Larry Granillo, sometimes from the Sporting Statues Project, and sometimes just one I found by searching. I cannot guarantee this list is complete. However, I can promise that if I missed some, I will be held to account in the comments below.

It looks like the Cardinals lead the majors with 10 statues, which is a testament to the long and storied history of their franchise. The White Sox come in second with eight and third is held by the Reds with seven. It appears that nine teams have yet to honor a player with a likeness.

Somewhere in here I should mention some physics since the word appears in the title of the article. So while we’re on the topic of torture, go get a can of your favorite beverage. The torture? Don’t open it. We need to do a physics experiment to understand the ideas associated with balance to explain an interesting feature of statues.

Put an X in the middle of the can like the one in the photo at the right. This X marks the “center-of-mass” of the can.

Next, tip the can a bit. You should be able to notice that if you tip the can a small amount, it will return back to its upright position. However, if you tip the can too much, it will fall over. That’s why I told you not to open it!

Below are two images of the can. In the one at the left, it is not tipped too much and it will go back to being vertical. In the picture at the right, the canned is tipped too far and it will soon be horizontal.

Notice the blue line that drops vertically from the center-of-mass. In the case of the can that will return to vertical, the blue line and therefor the center-of-mass is to the right of the contact point between the can and the table. The opposite is true for the can that will fall over. The center-of-mass is to the left of the contact point.

You have probably guessed that if the center-of-mass is directly above the contact point then you might be able to balance the can in a very delicate manner. We have learned the rule for keeping objects from tipping over – “The center-of-mass must remain inside that last point of support.”

If you are still reading, I can hear you complaining, “What does this have to do with ballpark statues.” Let’s look at the Ernie Banks homage at Wrigley shown at the right. A crude estimate of Ernie’s center-of-mass of the statue is somewhere around his belt buckle.

When Banks was actually in his batting stance he could rely on his feet to provide the points of support to avoid falling over. However as a statue, instead of just depending upon his shoes to provide the points of support the statue includes a circular base that covers a larger area. This is especially true in front and behind.

As far as the physics is concerned, the base is sufficient to keep the statue upright when it is windy. However, I am sure that the Cub’s attorney’s also demanded the statue be bolted in place to prevent tipping as well.

Let’s look at a second example because, after all, Ernie said, “Let’s play two!” The statue of Willie Mays at AT&T Park is a bit different. Mays’s center-of-mass is again probably pretty close to his belt buckle.

However, you can see that both his feet are far to the right of his center-of-mass. If this were the real Mays, you know that he would immediately move his rear leg forward to keep from tipping over and begin his homerun trot in the same motion.

As a statue, he is in serious danger of tipping over because his center-of-mass is outside the last point of support. Hence, you’ll notice that his statue includes a huge base extending well past his center-of-mass in all directions providing the stability that is required. A small circular base similar to the Banks statue just wouldn’t cut it.

Well, by now the can from your favorite beverage has had enough time to settle down so you can open it without threat of a shower. Bottom’s up!

References & Resources

• Ken Gurnick, MLB.com, “Robinson statue to be unveiled at Dodger Stadium in 2016”
• Larry Granillo, Wezen-Ball, “Baseball’s Best Statues, By Ballpark”
• From Pitch to Plinth: The Sporting Statues Project