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Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig Plaza Plaques Returned to Their Original Statuary Bronze
Two of baseball's best-known tributes, the Babe Ruth Plaza and Lou Gehrig Plaza plaques, were restored to their original statuary bronze finish by Metal Man Restoration of Mount Vernon, New York. The New York Yankees and Skanska Construction Corporation hired the shop in April 2008.
Cast in the mid-to-late 1940s, the plaques are displayed at the Bronx County Courthouse and Babe Ruth Plaza. When they reached the shop, they were so caked in old paint, dirt, and grime that they were first mistaken for cast iron. A closer inspection found solid bronze underneath. One of the Lou Gehrig Plaza plaques was also missing its bronze ball, and several pieces needed repair before any refinishing could begin.
The work moved in stages. The old paint, grime, and failed coatings were stripped without abrading the metal or the cast lettering and relief. The plaques were then welded where needed, fitted with original-style bronze bolts, and given a newly fabricated bronze baseball to replace the missing piece. A statuary finish, a patina applied chemically to the bronze rather than paint, brought back the deep, even tone the plaques carried when first installed. Each plaque was sealed with a polyurethane clear coat to protect the finish from moisture, UV, and pollutants.
The project shows a common pattern with older outdoor bronze: a surface that looks like rusted iron is often sound metal under decades of buildup, and careful stripping recovers detail that aggressive cleaning would destroy.
The full project write-up, with photos, is on the Metal Man Restoration Yankee Stadium plaques case study.
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