The Mariners yesterday unveiled a life-size statue of Baseball HOFer
Ken Griffey Jr. outside Safeco Field before a "small contingent" of team management, former MLBers and Griffey's family. Mariners President
Kevin Mather said that the seven-foot bronze statue is "the 'final piece' of Safeco Field, a tribute to the franchise's only player representative" in the HOF (
SEATTLEPI.com, 4/13). Griffey said, "It's nice. It looks like me. Good extension, eyesight in the right spot, looking up, not high" (
MLB.com, 4/13).
The statue was created by sculptor Lou Cella. Griffey was "sincerely and genuinely humbled." This was a "wonderful idea by the Mariners that was executed well," and "fans are going to love it" (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 4/14). Among the first visitors to the new monument was rapper Snoop Dogg, who "got wind of the statue and made his way over to Safeco" (MLB.com, 4/13).
Meanwhile, the Dodgers on Saturday will unveil a statue of Jackie Robinson on the "70th anniversary of the day he broke baseball's color barrier." Jackie's daughter, Sharon Robinson, said that she "expects about 200 friends and family members – including her 94-year-old mother, Rachel – to attend the unveiling and ceremony on baseball’s annual Jackie Robinson Day." The team's "first stadium statue" will be located near the reserve level entrances at Dodger Stadium, "along the left-field line." Dodgers Senior VP/Planning & Development Janet Marie Smith said, "It's where the most number of fans enter, but it's also a very ceremonial place" (L.A. TIMES, 4/12).
