By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cast in bronze, Ted Kluszewski and DeHart Hubbard "rode" into town Thursday afternoon to do in perpetuity what they did so well in their prime: Give the Queen City some additional class.

Artist Tom Tsuchiya of Madeira looks over his bronze creation of famous Red Ted Kluszewski after it was unwrapped in a storage area at Great American Ballpark Thursday. (Craig Ruttle photo)

The sculpture of "Big Klu" - all 6-foot-6 and 800 pounds of him - was unloaded first at Great American Ball Park, where his statue will be dedicated on Crosley Terrace at the new stadium's main entrance on Opening Day. He is the first of four Crosley Field-era statues to arrive.

"It looks just like Ted, and I'm thrilled by the statue - and Ted would be, too," said his widow, Eleanor. "The sculptor (Cincinnati native Tom Tsuchiya) did a great job."

The bronze relief of Olympian Hubbard - 8 feet by 4 feet - was then installed into the eastern portion of the 800-foot-long mural that graces the north wall of the Riverfront Transit Center. The Hubbard commemoration is near the main entrance at Second and Vine streets.

Big-bicepped Klu is one of the most revered Cincinnati Reds ever. From 1953 through 1955, he hit 40, 49 and 47 home runs.

But it is the way he looked that will forever be remembered: those muscles bulging from just beneath the sleeves, which Klu had to cut off until the Reds tailored the team's uniform into a vested top that better suited Klu.

"The Reds just happened to have a 1956 uniform of Klu's that I really liked, and it suited my needs," Tsuchiya said. "I had a friend and some other big guys who work in Xavier's maintenance department model the uniform, and that really helped."

Tsuchiya is best-known for sculpting the "D'Artagan" statue outside the Cintas Center at Xavier University.

DeHart Hubbard was the first African-American to win a gold medal in an individual Olympics event, in 1924. (Ernest Coleman photo)

Hubbard is not as well-known as Klu, but is arguably the greatest Cincinnati native athlete ever. The Walnut Hills High grad was the first African-American to win a gold medal in an individual Olympic event (long jump, Paris, 1924), and later tied the world-record in the 100-yard dash.

"This public recognition is a long time coming, but I can sort of understand why it's taken so long," said Dana Blackwell, 74, of North Avondale, Hubbard's niece. "Back when my kids were growing up, they told their friends about their great-uncle, and nobody believed them. Well, they'll believe them now!"

One of those children of Mrs. Blackwell is Ken Blackwell, Ohio's secretary of state and a former football star at Xavier University.

"Ken's happy about the recognition, too," said Mrs. Blackwell. "I just hope they give me enough advance notice of the dedication to get it on Ken's calendar."

"They" are the city of Cincinnati and Metro, which worked with a team of local artists and the Blackwell family in designing the art work. The Federal Transit Administration funded the art.

The relief of Hubbard was sculpted by former Indiana artist Dan Edwards, who specializes in sculpting Olympic athletes and Negro League baseball players.

"It's the (most) favorite piece I've ever done, and I think that's because of the involvement of the Blackwell family, who was able to help me capture DeHart's spirit through e-mail contact while I was working on him in my studio," Edwards said.

It is expected to be dedicated this spring in a public ceremony.

Mrs. Blackwell described the relief of her uncle as "unbelievable. I'm happy to have him commemorated in such a way that a lot of people will see it."

Public arts consultant Liz Scheurer, a former Cincinnatian who was project coordinator for the Guide to Public Art in Downtown Cincinnati, published in 1996, said the art elevates the quality in an urban setting. "I think it adds to the diversity of artwork available to the public and adds to the different styles and media for people to enjoy."

Famous faces to greet fans

Besides the bronze sculpture of Ted Kluszewski, artist Thomas Tsuchiya's likenesses of three other former Reds who played their entire careers at Crosley Field will welcome visitors to Great American Ball Park.

The players, chosen during the 2000 season in voting by fans at Cinergy Field and via the Internet, are Ernie Lombardi, Joe Nuxhall and Frank Robinson.

Their statues will be in the main entrance, Crosley Terrace.

Marilyn Bauer contributed. E-mail jerardi@enquirer.com