When Franc Talarico’s vision of Ted Williams was realized, the next step was to turn his two foot high maquette into an eight and half-foot statue of bronze. All this would take place at a Bronzart in Sarasota Florida. And Franc’s attentions now turned from his studio to the foundry where he would pop in to see how Ted was coming along.
Fine tuning the image.
Note the book on the stool.
Note behind Ted the little boy who will receive his cap.
As is so often the case, in life, in work, in art, while Ted was being transformed into bronze, the project was developing yet another life. For back in Boston, Mayor Thomas Menino, a long time Red Sox and Ted Williams fan was talking about a statue of Ted. The new ownership was both eager and enthusiastic and their enthusiasm led them to Franc Talarico. Franc called me and asked me if I would like to come along to the foundry as he had to meet some people from the Red Sox. It took me about a milli-second to answer and the following afternoon we were there with;
Janet Marie Smith, the architect who rebuilt Fenway Park.
Paul Hanlon who worked in her office and is now the Red Sox director of ballpark developement.
and Billy Klaus who played with Ted from 1955-1958.
The Red Sox ownership wanted Billy’s input on the likeness of Ted. They wanted it to be true and when Billy gave it the thumbs up, Bronzart now had two statues to produce. One for the Ted Williams Museum in Lecanto and one for Fenway Park. And my glorious ride was getting better and better…..
to be continued…..
And so it was at this time in Fenway Park history, immortalizing Ted
2002-2004.
About fenwaypark100
Hello and welcome, my name is Raymond Sinibaldi. A retired history teacher, after 26 years in the classroom, a baseball fan for three score and five, I have authored 13 books. Eight about baseball and her glorious history; most recently Yankees in the Hall of Fame and Dodgers in the Hall of Fame. An aficionado of the Kennedy Administration, I have written four books in that realm and also co-authored a book of motivational stories for coaches. The first, The Babe in Red Stockings which was co-authored with Kerry Keene and David Hickey and released in 1997. It is a chronicle of Babe's days with the Red Sox. We also penned a screenplay about Babe's Red Sox days so if any of you are Hollywood inclined or would like to represent us in forwarding that effort feel free to contact me. In 2012 we three amigos published Images of Fenway Park in honor of the 100th birthday of Fenway Park. That led to the creation of this blog. The following year, 2013 came my first solo venture, Spring Training in Bradenton and Sarasota. This is a pictorial history of spring training in those two Florida cities. The spring of 2014 brought forth the 1967 Red Sox, The Impossible Dream Season. The title speaks for itself, and it also is a pictorial history. Many of the photos in this book were never published before. The spring of 2015 brought 1975 Red Sox, American League Champions. Another pictorial effort, this will be about the Red Sox championship season of 1975 and the World Series that restored baseball in America. The spring of 2016 brought 61 Motivational Stories for Every Coach of Every Sport. My first JFK effort was in 2017 with John F Kennedy in New England, which was followed by JFK From Florida to the Moon (2019) and JFK At Rest in Arlington (2020). Jackie's Newport came about in 2019 and in 2023 came both Yankees in the Hall of Fame and Dodgers in the Hall of Fame. I was fortunate enough to consult with sculptor Franc Talarico on the “Jimmy Fund” statue of Ted Williams which stands outside both Fenway Park and Jet Blue Park Fenway South, in Fort Myers Florida. That story is contained in the near 300 posts which are contained herein. Throughout the years this blog has morphed from an exclusive Red Sox focus, to a broader baseball perspective to a blog about life, with baseball a large portion of it. This year, 2024, I have reactivated this blog which lay dormant for quite some time. Welcome aboard, pass the word and feel free to contact me about anything you read or ideas you may have for a topic. Email me at fenwaypark100@gmail.com.
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