According to an article on MLB.com by T.R. Sullivan, the Texas Rangers have commissioned western artist and sculptor Bruce Green for the sculpture to honor the memory of Brownwood firefighter Shannon Stone.
The statue will be of Stone and his 6-year-old son Cooper attending a Ranger’s game and will be entitled “Rangers Fans.” Sullivan states that the statue will be a life-size bronze statue and it will be located outside the home plate gate at the Ballpark in Arlington.
According to club president Nolan Ryan, Bruce Green is an accomplished artist with Texas roots who is “most appropriate” to create the statue which will become part of the Ballpark in Arlington. Greene has a studio in Norse, Texas near Clifton and has exhibited his works in many museums, including the Texas Rangers Museum in Waco, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City and the Phoenix (Arizona) Art Museum.
According to Sullivan, Greene is best known for his “Immortal Ten Memorial on Baylor University’s campus, which was completed in 2007, the 80th anniversary of a bus crash near Austin that killed 10 players, coaches and fans of the Baylor Bears men’s basketball team.
The Stone statue will join full size statues of Ryan and former Arlington mayor Tom Vandergriff, which were dedicated in 1997 and are located in the center field Vandergriff Plaza, and will be the third sculpture at the Ballpark.
Stone passed away from injuries sustained in a tragic fall from the left field bleachers on July 7, 2011. Sullivan states in his article that Stone’s widow Jenny will work with Rangers and Greene on the project which is expected to be completed for dedication at the beginning of the 2012 season.
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