Willie Stargell sculpture by Susan Wagner

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There are four sculptures around PNC Park that pay tribute to some of the Pittsburgh Pirates greatest players. Three of them were created by Susan Wagner between 1994 and 2010. Those include Roberto Walker Clemente, Willie Stargel, and Bill Mazeroski. The fourth, Honus Wagner, was done back in 1955 by Frank Vittor. His brother Tony Vittor did the relief work on the base of the Honus Wagner sculpture.

Willie Pops Stargell

If ever there was a heart to a sports team, it was Pops. The Pirates have had their share of great players and fan favorites, but Willie Stargell was one of a kind. Yes, he was a tremendous hitter with 475 home runs, but that doesn’t tell you what a leader he was. Pops was the heart and soul of the team that won two World Series (1971, 1979), two National League pennants and six National League East titles. He was the force that brought the players together and made them more than just a team. He made them a family.

Dan Gigler of the Post–Gazette quoted artist Susan Wagner as saying that she used old photographs and film of Stargell as well as vintage uniforms and bats to create the sculpture. It took a year.

Once again, Astorino and Associates architecture firm designed the base for the sculpture and gave it a truely personal touch. They’ve inscribed a quote from Willie Stargel on his first impression of Pittsburgh when he arrived here.

Last night, coming in from the airport, we came through the tunnel and the city opened up its arms and I felt at home.

Willie Stargell used to give out Stargell Stars to reward teammates. The embroidered stars were worn proudly on thier hats, and images of those prized possesions are embedded in the pavement around the sculpture.

An unmatched power hitter, Pops was the only player to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium for almost 30 years. He hit the ball so far that in two stadiums they painted the seat where he had hit to in a different color. (Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia and Olympic Stadium in Montreal)

Number 8 was retired by the Pirates in 1982. We may see a better player someday, but filling his shoes as the heart and soul of Pittsburgh baseball will be near impossible.

Honus Wagner sculpture by Frank Vittor, Tony Vittor

About Pgh Murals
Spreadsheet of Pittsburgh Public Art and blog archives
Map of Pittsburgh Public Art

There are four sculptures around PNC Park that pay tribute to some of the Pittsburgh Pirates greatest players. Three of them were created by Susan Wagner between 1994 and 2010. Those include Roberto Walker Clemente, Willie Stargel, and Bill Mazeroski. The fourth, Honus Wagner, was done back in 1955 by Frank Vittor. His brother Tony Vittor did the relief work on the base of the Honus Wagner sculpture.

Honus Wagner AKA The Flying Dutchman

Pittsburgh native Johannes Peter Honus Wagner was one of the first five players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. One of – if not THE – best short stops ever, he also won eight batting titles. Considered to be the best all–around player by many, he was talented in every aspect of the game. When he retired for the last time, he held the National League’s record for all time hits.

As good a player as Honus Wagner was, he may be better known today because of his baseball card, the T206. There’s a mural in his hometown neighborhood of Carnegie that replicates it.

The Pirates retired number 33 in 1952. It’s one of only ten numbers retired by the Pittsburgh Pirates over the years. The others include Billy Meyer, Ralph Kiner, Willie Stargell, Bill Mazeroski, Paul Waner, Pie Traynor, Roberto Clemente, Danny Murtaugh, and one non–Pirate player – Jackie Robinson, who’s number was retired by all the teams.

According to wikipedia the sculptor, Frank Vittor, was known for his preference for the heroic and colossal. Some of his other works include Christopher Columbus and Charles Lindberg. A native of Italy, he studied art in Paris and eventually made Pittsburgh his home. He founded the Pittsburgh Society of Sculptors and taught at the Carnegie Institute (now CMU).

The reliefs on the base of the sculpture were done by Tony Vittor (Frank Vittor’s brother.) According to Pittsburgh Art in Public Places, they depict young people looking up at the baseball hero with admiration.

Legacy Square by John Forsythe, Ed Scheele

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So sorry to report that this treasure is gone. The statues were auctioned off and Legacy Square is no more. We’ve been unable to locate any information regarding why this was done. It sure looks empty there without them.

As a kid I remember my dad telling me what great players he used to watch in the Negro League. Pittsburgh had two teams when he was a kid: the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords. According to my dad, some of the best baseball players in the country – in any league – were on those teams.

Robert Leroy Satchel Paige

Until Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947 and became the first African–American to play in the Major Leagues, baseball was segregated. There had been plenty of black and cuban teams formed over the years, but prejudice and discrimination limited their opportunities. Several attempts to establish a separate league were made, but they always folded and had to be reinvented again. Both black and Latino athletes were restricted to playing on those teams. In the early 1940’s the Negro League was starting to see some success.

William Julius Judy Johnson

WWII and the death of the first commissioner of Major League Baseball seemed to be a turning point. The new commissioner, who took over in 1944, was not opposed to integration. At that point Branch Rickey, a Major League Baseball executive, set out to find the best candidate to begin integration. He signed Jackie Robinson in 1945. Once integration began, the Negro League folded for the last time.

PNC Park had built an entire area to honor and remember some of the great players of the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays. These athletes are as much a part of our city’s baseball heritage as any of the past Pirates’ players. It was nice to see them recognized.

Joseph Smokey Joe Williams

The sculptures were all a part of Legacy Square, which opened in 2006 and was dismantled in 2015. Just inside the Left Field Gate entrance to the ballpark were eight life–size bronze figures. We took these photos through the bars on the closed gates, so not the best photos but better than nothing.

Besides the sculptures, Legacy Square also had a theater where you could watch video on the history of these teams, and information about the history of segregated baseball.

Josua Gibson

Legacy Square was designed by Ed Scheele, of ESA Design and Rob Ruck, a professor at Pitt and a Negro Leagues historian.

Oscar Charlston

The sculptures were done by John Forsythe, who also worked with a team to create the bronze sculptures in the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, MO.

Roberto Walker Clemente sculpture by Susan Wagner

About Pgh Murals
Spreadsheet of Pittsburgh Public Art and blog archives
Map of Pittsburgh Public Art

There are four sculptures around PNC Park that pay tribute to some of the Pittsburgh Pirates greatest players. Three of them were created by Susan Wagner between 1994 and 2010. Those include Roberto Walker Clemente, Willie Stargel, and Bill Mazeroski. The fourth, Honus Wagner, was done back in 1955 by Frank Vittor. His brother Tony Vittor did the relief work on the base of the Honus Wagner sculpture.

Roberto Walker Clemente AKA The Great One

Roberto Clemente was a 12 time all star that played for the Pirates from 1955–1972. A major star in Puerto Rico, where he was born, Roberto spent a lot of off season time continuing to play baseball there. He also spent a lot of time doing charitable work in Puerto Rico and South America. It was on one of his charitable missions – flying relief supplies to the victims of a Nicaragua earthquake – that Roberto died. The plane crashed immediately after takeoff off the coast of Puerto Rico.

In an interview with WTAE, Susan Wagner (the sculptor of this piece) said and I read the article about how he died, and I fell in love with him. I got chills and I said, ’I have to do this’. This was only the second statue she had ever made. Extaordinary.

As are many of the public art displays around Pittsburgh, this one was also worked on by the Astorino Architecture firm. They designed the base of the display where they depict a baseball diamond. What makes it special though, is that marking the three bases are three small glass boxes, each containing a bit of soil from the important places in Roberto’s history. First base holds soil from Santurce Field, Carolina, Puerto Rico. It represents his birthplace as well as his time playing Puerto Rican Baseball. Second base holds a small bit of Forbes Field – a special place for number 21 as well as a lot of the other players and fans. In the 1960 World Series there, Roberto became the first Latino player to win a World Series as a starter. Third base contains the soil from Three Rivers Stadium. While never a particularly favorite stadium for watching baseball, it was where a lot of us saw The Great One play. It was also the stadium where Roberto won the MVP award during the 1971 World Series.

Roberto Clemente was so much more than just a great baseball player. His humanitarian work is respected by everyone. We could list all of the awards that he won in baseball, but you can look those up on line. We will mention instead the three civilian awards from the US Government issued to him posthumously:
The Roberto Walker Clemente Congressional Gold Medal (1973)
Presidential Citizens Medal (1973)
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2003)

The citation on the Citizens Medal reads:

All who saw Roberto Clemente in action, whether on the diamond or on the front lines of charitable endeavor, are richer for the experience. He stands with the handful of men whose brilliance has transformed the game of baseball into a showcase of skill and spirit, giving universal delight and inspiration. More than that, his selfless dedication to helping those with two strikes against them in life has blessed thousands and set an example for millions. As long as athletes and humanitarians are honored, Roberto Clemente's memory will live; as long as Citizens Medals are presented, each will mean a little more because the first one went to him.

Before the naming rights for the new stadium were sold, PNC Park was almost named after Roberto Clemente. The right field wall in the new park is 21 feet high in his honor. (21 being his number, and right field his position.) The former 6th St Bridge was renamed the Roberto Clemente Bridge, and the large green space west of the stadium is Roberto Clemente Memorial Park. There are plenty of other naming honors around the city and elsewhere.

Just a few stats:
career 3,000 hits
career average of .317
First Latino MVP
First Latino inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame