The 5 legends honored with a Progressive Field statue

CLEVELAND -- When you walk toward Progressive Field from the corner of East Ninth Street and Larry Doby Way on Eagle Avenue, you’re taken back in time through the storied history of Cleveland baseball.

Within a plaza outside the ballpark’s right-field gate stand numerous monuments paying tribute to memorable moments in franchise history. So, too, do statues of three Cleveland baseball icons, and two more await once you make your way through the ballpark gates.

Let’s take a look at the five legends who have been immortalized at Progressive Field.

Bob Feller
The most accomplished pitcher in franchise history was fittingly the first player to get a statue at Progressive Field. The statue of Feller was unveiled when the ballpark first opened its doors for the 1994 season.

Feller’s statue depicts him in his iconic pitching pose. His left arm and left leg are each raised in the air. His right arm is locked backward as he prepares to throw a pitch.

The base of Feller’s statue on the side under his left foot includes a biography on him, from growing up in Van Meter, Iowa, to tossing three no-hitters during his 18-year big league career. His career stats are listed on the side directly under the front of his jersey. A number of his other career accomplishments -- such as becoming the first pitcher to win 20 games before the age of 21, in 1939 -- are engraved on the side under his right foot.

Feller spent his entire 18-season career with Cleveland after he debuted at 17 years old on July 19, 1936. The right-hander is Cleveland’s franchise leader in starts (484), complete games (279), wins (266), strikeouts (2,581) and innings pitched (3,827). He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, and his No. 19 is retired by Cleveland.

Jim Thome
The statue of Thome was unveiled on Aug. 2, 2014, outside Heritage Park beyond Progressive Field’s center-field fence and near the spot Thome hit an estimated 511-foot home run on July 3, 1999. It now stands on the concourse beyond center field.

Thome’s statue depicts him in his patented pose, in which he held his bat in his right hand and pointed it toward the pitcher’s mound.

Thome spent 13 seasons with Cleveland during his Hall of Fame career, from 1991-2002 and 2011. He made three All-Star teams with the franchise (1997-99), and helped Cleveland earn five consecutive postseason berths (1995-99) and win two American League pennants (‘95, ‘97).

Thome is Cleveland’s all-time leader in home runs (337), and he ranked second in team history in RBIs (937) at the time of his retirement. He signed a one-day contract to retire as a member of the organization the day his statue was unveiled. That day, when asked what he hopes fans remember about him years from now when they see it, Thome pointed to the special times Cleveland had as a team in the 1990s.

“That was a reflection not on the individual, but more on the group,” Thome told reporters. “I mean the front office, I mean the coaches, the manager, the players. All of those people that you remember, that’s what I want the statue to reflect on. Not just the individual, but everybody involved.

“I want people to walk by in 50 years and go, ‘Those Cleveland Indians teams in the ‘90s were really, really good.’”

Larry Doby
The statue of Doby -- a pioneer who broke the color barrier in the American League in 1947 -- was unveiled on July 25, 2015. It depicts him completing a swing, with his body turned as he sets to begin running the bases.

Doby’s statue is located in the plaza outside Progressive Field alongside Larry Doby Way, where it greets fans as they make their way into the ballpark.

"When we unveil this statue, we have Larry Doby standing at our new front door, greeting fans to this ballpark for generations," team owner Paul Dolan told reporters when Doby’s statue was unveiled. "We are saying to the world: 'Here is Larry Doby.’ A man we are greatly proud of.

“Because not only is he one of the greatest Cleveland Indians of all time, but he was an even greater man. A man who was second to none. And it's time the world got to know him."

Just a few months after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier when he debuted with the Dodgers, Doby became the first Black player in the American League. The center fielder made his MLB debut with Cleveland on July 5, 1947.

Doby played 13 seasons in the big leagues, including 10 with Cleveland (1947-55 and ‘58). He was a trailblazer for other Black players making their way to the big leagues, and one of the steadiest players of his generation.

Doby earned seven consecutive All-Star nods (1949-55) with Cleveland and was the runner-up for the AL MVP Award in ‘54. He hit .301 with an .873 OPS over 121 games in 1948, when the Indians won the American League pennant, and starred in the World Series as Cleveland won its second title in franchise history.

Doby hit .318 (7-for-22) in the Fall Classic, and his solo home run in Game 4 was pivotal to the Indians’ 2-1 win that gave them a 3-1 series lead.

Cleveland retired Doby’s No. 14 on July 5, 1994, 47 years after his MLB debut. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998.

Frank Robinson
The statue of Robinson was unveiled on May 27, 2017. It is the centerpiece of Progressive Field’s Heritage Park, which is home to the Guardians’ Hall of Fame and pays tribute to icons throughout franchise history.

Fittingly, the statue depicts Robinson holding a lineup card.

"I never thought I would be here today to see something like this," Robinson told reporters the day his statue was unveiled.

Robinson spent four seasons with the Indians, during which he made history as the first African-American manager in MLB history. Robinson played 15 games in 1974 before transitioning to player-manager from ‘75-76. He stayed on as Cleveland’s skipper in ‘77 after retiring from his playing career.

Robinson started his player-manager tenure off on a high note. The Indians beat the Yankees, 5-3, on April 8, 1975, and Robinson (serving as the DH) hit a solo homer in his first-inning plate appearance.

Cleveland retired Robinson’s No. 20 in coordination with unveiling his statue in 2017. Following his decorated 21-season playing career, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982.

Lou Boudreau
The statue of Boudreau was unveiled on Aug. 5, 2017. It depicts him mid-leg kick as he gears up to swing, and fittingly is located within the same plaza as the statues of Feller and Doby -- his teammates in Cleveland during the 1940s.

Boudreau played for Cleveland from 1938-50 and served as player-manager from ‘42-50. A seven-time All-Star, he retired as one of the most accomplished hitters and skippers in franchise history. When he hung up his spikes, Boudreau ranked sixth in hits (1,706) and first in managerial wins (728).

Boudreau led Cleveland to a 97-58-1 record in 1948, when he slashed .355/.453/.534 with 199 hits, 18 homers and 106 RBIs -- all career highs which later earned him the American League MVP Award. On Oct. 4 that season, he went 4-for-4 with a pair of homers against the Red Sox in a one-game tiebreaker to determine the AL pennant. Cleveland won, 8-3, en route to its second World Series title.

"My father's stories of this player-manager Lou Boudreau leading our Cleveland Indians to the World Series was to me like me reading stories of Harry Potter to my children: magical, heroic and unbelievable," Dolan told reporters when Boudreau’s statue was unveiled. "But there is nothing fictional about the Boudreau magic."

Boudreau was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1970. His No. 5 jersey is retired by Cleveland.