Marlins star disagrees with Derek Jeter's stadium change
Jazz Chisholm Jr. admitted recently that he disagreed with ex- Miami Marlins CEO Derek Jeter's 2018 decision to remove the home run sculpture from LoanDepot Park.
The star second baseman-turned-centerfielder appeared on the most recent episode of Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder/second baseman Mookie Betts' "On Base with Mookie Betts" podcast to discuss the sculpture and other topics.
Chisholm Jr. said that he believed "Mr. November" made the choice to have the extravagant seven-story tall sculpture removed from beyond the stadium's centerfield wall because he's "not with the flashiness." The 2022 All-Star added that Jeter put a "normal little 'M' up there now," which Chisholm called "kind of boring."
Chisholm Jr.'s words come less than one month after former Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria bashed the Hall of Fame shortstop by saying that he "came in and destroyed" the home ballpark with his decision on the sculpture.
"Destroying public art was a horrible thing to do," Loria said in August.
Jeter was part of an ownership group that bought the franchise in August 2017, and he stepped down prior to the 2022 season.
According to a report by Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, one of Loria's friends designed the sculpture for $2.5 million contract and it was a "polarizing piece of the ballpark, eliciting praise from some, ridicule from others." The piece would erupt after Miami home runs or victories, "sending mechanical marlins spinning, white seagulls soaring, pelicans dancing and fountains spraying in a 29-second cycle."
The sculpture was put up in 2012 and is now on an "outside plaza" and "easy to miss" for fans going to games.
Betts, who is contending for his second MVP award this summer, and Chisholm Jr., who is arguably the face of the Miami franchise, are two of the flashier players in the league right now. From Betts' "pepper grinder" celebration to Chisholm Jr.'s famous Euro step after every home run, the duo represents just some of the many ways stars rejoice in today's game as opposed to the humble way Jeter presented himself.
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