Sculpture in works to celebrate Gutteridge

Pittsburg baseball legend Don Gutteridge would have celebrated his 100th birthday today and the Gutteridge Foundation had dreamed of unveiling a lifesize bronze sculpture of Gutteridge (1912-2008) inside the entrance at JayCee Ballpark, nominal home of the Don Gutteridge League and youth baseball in Pittsburg, on his birthday.

That dream will be delayed, but Todd Biggs, founding member and co-chair of the Gutteridge Foundation, said the Gutteridge sculpture will be finished.

“We’re slowed slightly because our sculptor (Jim Westbrook) had to back out because of family crisis,” Biggs said. “Without giving too much detail, his parents and his wife’s parents came in need of longterm care at the same time and both were traveling great distances to provide care for them. So he called and we were waiting on our next media splash to come when we could bring him in town.

“But, then after waiting several weeks for him, he backed out and we’ve been trying to find the right artist. He’s been advising us and trying to help us find someone. His main concern was that you might find someone more interested in their art than in their subject.”

Once the Gutteridge Foundation picks a sculptor, other issues will arise.

“Our biggest challenge other than finding the right artist is finding an artist who will give us a price,” Biggs said. “Our artist who backed out gave us a price and different artists have different prices. We talked to people that were consideradly cheaper and that scared us more than the people that were considerably more. This is my first bronze sculpture and we’re trying to wade through all the information.”

The Gutteridge Foundation chose three sculpture options for donors: 1) Gutteridge, bat in his right hand, kneeling on his first day as a St. Louis Cardinal; 2) Gutteridge swinging later in his career; 3) fan-submitted photos.

“I don’t know how many people have voted and we had an original flush of e-mails and a couple other suggestions but right now it looks like the swinging pose of Don Gutteridge . . . it shows more action,” Biggs said. “If we did the kneeling one, the input we’ve gotten is that we should put it on about a 3-foot pedestal. No matter what it is, we want it so that any kid who walks into this ballpark can touch Don Gutteridge on the shoulder or pat him on the knee or something for good luck.”

Biggs seemed every bit as determined to complete the project in June as he did in late January when it was first announced.

“We’ve received nothing but positive feedback on the whole project,” Biggs said. “If it took us 10 years, we’re still not going to stop. We’re going to keep going no matter what.”

All four youth baseball leagues — Machine Pitch, Ted Carnino, Frank German and Don Gutteridge — will be in action on Don Gutteridge Day.

“To be honest with you, now’s the time to do it,” Biggs said. “Summertime, (today) is Don Gutteridge Day and you know what, it meant a lot to Don. It really did. It shows that people acknowledged that he never ran away from his hometown and he embraced it. He and Helen had great lives here in Pittsburg until the very end. That’s just one of the many things I admire about him.”

The 5-foot-10, 165-pound infielder made his Major League debut Sept. 7, 1936 and his 12-year career at second base, third base and shortstop ended on May 9, 1948.

Gutteridge made stops with the St. Louis Browns (1942-1945), the St. Louis Cardinals (1936-1940), the Boston Red Sox (1946-1947) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1948) — finishing his career with a .256 batting average, 200 doubles, 64 triples, 39 home runs, 391 RBI and 95 stolen bases.

Three times over his 12-year career, Gutteridge finished in the Top 20 of the American League MVP race — 17th in 1942, 18th in 1943 and 19th in 1944, all years he played on the Browns.

He played in the 1944 and 1946 World Series, 1944 with the Browns and 1946 with the Red Sox, both against his former team of the St. Louis Cardinals. Gutteridge batted .192 (5-for-26) with one double and one RBI and was the first batter in the all-St. Louis World Series of 1944.

Gutteridge played alongside 12 Hall-of-Famers during his career: Walter Alston, Dizzy Dean, Bobby Doerr, Leo Durocher, Rick Ferrell, Frankie Frisch, Jesse Haines, Ralph Kiner, Joe Medwick, Johnny Mize, Enos Slaughter and Ted Williams.

He later managed the Chicago White Sox during the 1969 and 1970 seasons after coaching in the White Sox organization for nearly 20 years. Gutteridge worked as a scout for the Kansas City Royals, the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers, finishing his baseball career with six World Series rings.

Through it all, he never forgot his true home was Pittsburg, Kansas.

For more information, please check out http://www.gutteridgefoundation.org.