Jim Thome Statue Ceremony Announced

Apr 28, 2012; Cleveland, OH, USA; A sign in center field at Progressive Field designates the spot where a new J

im Thome

(not pictured) statue will stand. Thome hit 337 home runs in 13 years as a member of the Cleveland Indians. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Jim Thome to be Honored in August

The all-time home run king for the Cleveland Indians is set to be immortalized in bronze. That’s right, Jim Thome is getting a statue. That’s not news. We’ve known for some time that this would be happening, but now we know when the ceremony to unveil the statue will take place. On August 2 against the Rangers, the public will gt its first glimpse of the new statue.

As of right now, no one except for those in the know have seen renderings of the statue. That essentially comes down to a select group including Indians brass, Thome, and the sculptor. What we do know is from the limited amount of details that have been released in different interviews with the people involved.

For instance, we know that the statue will be massive. Thome indicated as much when he was asked about it this week. We also know what pose they decided on with the statue. Thome will be depicted in his iconic batting stance prior to the pitcher starting his delivery – bat extended, straight out, pointing directly at the pitcher. It’s the same pose that so many kids imitated during Thome’s hey day with the Indians back in the mid-90’s.

While some have questioned the necessity to give Jim Thome a statue so soon after the completion of his career, it doesn’t change the significance of the honor. After all, the only other man the Indians have bestowed this honor upon was Bob Feller. For the Indians to hold Thome in such high regard, despite the history of how things played out in the past, says a lot.

The significance of the honor isn’t lost on Thome either. When asked about the honor and the significance of getting a statue of his likeness placed somewhere in Progressive Field, he had this to say:

"“It’s going to be pretty awesome. How do you ever imagine when you play this game, getting an opportunity to have an organization put a statue up? I’m a little lost for words, to be honest. As a player, I don’t even want to say you dream of that.”"

For what it’s worth, at least the honor is going to someone who will fully appreciate it and is humbled by the decision the organization has decided to make. Choosing to give someone a statue is a major decision, one that cannot be taken lightly. For the Indians, they weighted the pros and cons and ultimately decided that giving Jim Thome a statue was something that needed to happen.

One thing is for certain, despite what may have happened in the past Jim Thome will get a standing ovation when the statue is unveiled on August 2. Fans were excited by his return in 2011, and they were excited when it was announced he would be attending Tribe Fest. I think it’s safe to say, they’ll be excited about this too. (refresh is video player fails to load)