ARLINGTON, Texas _ Globe Life Field finally looks like a baseball park.
A bronze statue of Texas Rangers' Hall of Fame catcher Pudge Rodriguez was unveiled in front of the southwest entrance Wednesday morning. The statue of Nolan Ryan that stood in the outfield concourse at Globe Life Park will stand outside Globe Life Field in the Rangers "backyard" section that will be open to fans every day of the year.
The six-foot Rodriguez statue shows him on one knee behind the plate in his catcher's gear. It's located behind the home plate entrance of the new ballpark. Other statues around the stadium will be unveiled in the coming weeks, the Rangers said.
Rodriguez commissioned a sculptor to do the statue during his 12-year stint with the Rangers from 1991 to 2002. The statue sat in storage in Miami for over a decade before Rodriguez and the Rangers put it in storage in Texas.
"I played in the two ballparks before we built this beautiful facility and now having my statue at the new ballpark and sitting at the home plate area for life is a dream," Rodriguez said. "This is one of the best rewards I've received from the Rangers organization."
