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Pittsburgh baseball legends enshrined on Downtown mural
Thursday, April 06, 2000 By Mary Thomas, Post-Gazette Arts Writer
The Legends of Pittsburgh Mural, depicting 14 baseball notables selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates and painted by Art Institute of Pittsburgh faculty member Michael Malle, was unveiled yesterday at a Downtown ceremony.
The mural was digitally enlarged and mounted on the wall beneath the Boulevard of the Allies at Ross Street and visible to people driving to town on Second Avenue.
Pictured are former Pirate players and managers, as well as former Negro League star Josh Gibson, who played for the Homestead Grays.
Approved last August by the city Art Commission, the beautification project includes a painting of the outfield wall of old Forbes Field on an adjacent wall. The cost was about $250,000, including in-kind contributions from the city, PennDOT, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and others.
Mayor Murphy, surrounded by gold and black balloons, called the mural a "great addition to the continuing transformation of Pittsburgh and Downtown."
Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy, speaking before the mural was uncovered, said, "You're going to see what this 114 years of tradition is all about." With the Pirate Parrot behind him, he declared, "I'm excited about our history. We're going to have a great year this year. We're going to get over this weather. And I'm excited about PNC Park."
Malle, a Pittsburgh native who grew up on Mount Washington, worked on the painting for about three years, including the time he spent researching such things as the uniforms. Standing with his sons, Max, 11, who attends Greenway Middle School, and Philip, 9, of Westwood Elementary, he said he was grateful to be able to "express my home town pride" this way.
The unveiling, which drew about 100 onlookers who braved blustery winds and Second Avenue traffic, was bittersweet for Josh Gibson's great-grandson, Sean Gibson, who has asked the family lawyer to look into the project. While he has no objection to the mural and is honored that his great-grandfather is among the Pittsburgh sports legends depicted, Gibson felt "left out of this process" because no one asked his family for permission to use Josh's image.
"I didn't even know the mural was done. I happened upon it the other day and just happened to see my grandfather's face when the wind blew the tarp away from the mural."
Gibson works hard to keep his ancestor's legend alive. He founded a Little League baseball organization and is vice president of a foundation that bears Josh Gibson's name.
The larger-than-life, full-length "legends" depicted, from left to right, are Kiki Cuyler, Ralph Kiner, Fred Clarke, Max Carey, Paul and Lloyd Waner, Danny Murtaugh, Gibson, Arky Vaughn, Willie Stargell, Pie Traynor (kneeling), Bill Mazeroski, Roberto Clemente and Honus Wagner.
If Eloise Hirsh, director of city planning, has her way, city officials will be inspired by this mural to think of other "ugly, neglected sites" that also could be beautified with art. The mural, she said, "is just a wonderful example of taking a gray piece of infrastructure and making something wonderful."
Staff writers Erv Dyer and Cindi Lash contributed to this report.
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