THE NEW SAND SCULPTURE under construction in Franklin Square at 6th and Race Sts. in Center City includes a healthy presence of figures representing Philadelphia professional sports teams, but none more than the reigning WFC (World Freakin' Champion) Phillies. Work was still in progress when I took this photo over the weekend. Note the unfinished pumpkin-head Phillies player in the forground. Now look above an to the left at the Phillies player in profile who seems to be going eyeball-to-eyeball with the statue of William Penn atop City Hall.
Look at that jaw. Look at that pageboy haircut. Could that be Charlie Hustle himself? It sure looks like Pete Rose, the Cincinnati homeboy who sparked the Big Red Machine to back-to-back World Series Championships in 1975-76. More imporatantly, Rose was the straw that stirred the drink that became the victory potion during the Phillies first World Series championship season in 1980.
Who can forget Rose snatching in midair the foul ball that bounced out of catcher Bob Boone's mitt with one out and the bases loaded in the ninth inning of the deciding sixth game of the Phillies-Royals World Series. There's not a Philadelphia sports fan alive who doesn't credit Rose as the missing element, the final piece of the Phillies puzzle that fell into place when he joined the team in 1979.j
But why depict Rose in a tribute to the 2009 Phillies? Maybe the artist's intentions will become clear once the sand sculpture is completed. Come to think of it, that pumpkin head in the Phillies cap does bear a remarkable likeness to Greg Luziinski.
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