Former Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is no fan of Derek Jeter, it seems.
Loria, who owned the Marlins from 2002-17 before selling them to an ownership group that Jeter was part of, spoke with the Miami Herald on Monday about a range of topics.
Loria still harbors ill will towards Jeter due to Jeter’s decision to remove the polarizing home run sculpture that sat beyond the left-centerfield wall for the first few years the park was open.
“Jeter came in and destroyed the ballpark,” Loria said. “Destroying public art was a horrible thing to do.”
While the sculpture was relocated, it remains on the grounds of LoanDepot Park, having been relocated to outside of one of the entrances. This also upset Loria, who said, “Now it will rot outside where it is… condemned to neglect and outdoor decay.”
The 70-foot tall sculpture used to go off whenever the Marlins would hit a home run or won a game, featuring marlins, pelicans, and fountains that would go off on a 29-second cycle.
Removing the polarizing sculpture was something Jeter pushed for from the time his ownership group bought the team, finally getting his wish in 2018. Jeter remained part of the ownership group until February 2022 when he announced he would no longer be serving as CEO and sold his ownership stake in the franchise.
