You’ll have to wait until Sunday’s induction ceremony to see the work in full, but rest assured that sculptor Tom Tsuchiya captured the essence of both Griffey and fellow inductee Mike Piazza. And, yes, Griffey’s hat is facing forward.
PITTSBURGH — The squat, industrial building on West Liberty Avenue is deceptively unassuming. One lifetime resident of Pittsburgh told me he had driven by it for 20 years without knowing the secrets hidden within.
Yet the magic performed in the bronze foundry at Matthews International, a loud and gloriously grimy manufacturing plant, oldest in the Steel City, is eternal — and very well may bring tears to the eyes of Ken Griffey Jr.