Matt Gerhardt, crew leader of maintenance at Graham Park in Cranberry Township, shows the wooden carving of Roberto Clemente that will be placed in the park. The piece was done by Ken Tynan of Butler.

CRANBERRY TWP — A likeness of Pirates legend Roberto Clemente will soon grace Graham Park near the Miracle League of Southwestern Pennsylvania Field.

A 7-foot-tall wood carving of the famed Pirates right fielder and humanitarian is complete after being commissioned last year by the Cranberry Township Community Chest, said Bruce Mazzoni, board member with the CTCC.

“It's really an incredible piece,” Mazzoni said. “I'm excited to get it up in the park.”

Mazzoni said the statue will be placed as soon as a pedestal is built for it to be mounted upon, hopefully by September. It was commissioned to chain saw artist Ken Tynan of Butler last year as part of the Miracle League Field resurfacing and playground project, the 2016 CTCC Project of the Year.

Tynan said he committed 200 to 300 hours to the carving to get it exactly right. He also carved the figures for the Native American village in the center of the roundabout in Graham Park. Each of those pieces took about two weeks to do, Tynan said.

Tynan began carving on his 40th birthday about 18 years ago. He used to be a billboard painter and wanted to continue working on large pieces, so he picked up a chain saw.

It's more difficult working on a piece based on a real person than making a generic carving, Tynan said. The statue that will sit in Graham Park is actually the second Clemente carving he has done.

He started one at Cranberry Community Days last year, but it wasn't turning out the way he wanted so he started again with a new piece of white pine.

“With Roberto, it's still not good enough,” he said. “That's why it took me so long.”

Clemente is a baseball Hall of Famer who played 18 seasons with the Pirates, winning four National League batting titles, the 1966 National League MVP and 1971 World Series MVP awards.

He was killed on Dec. 31, 1972, at age 38 in a plane crash while on his way to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Clemente would have celebrated his 83rd birthday on Aug. 18.

Tynan said he remembers watching Clemente play at Forbes Field when he was a child. He also remembers the day Clemente died.

“I remember where I was when my sister came to tell me that Roberto was dead,” he said.

“I remember that vividly.”