Putting Together The Ron Polk Statue
October 27, 2022 | Baseball, Athletics, Joel Coleman
MSU to unveil statue honoring legendary former head coach as part of 2023’s Super Bulldog Weekend.
STARKVILLE – Cowbells. Maroon and White. Bulldogs.
There are things in this life that are synonymous with Mississippi State – items that, when mentioned, immediately conjure up thoughts of MSU.
And of course, there are people, too. Somewhere near the top of the list is the name of Ron Polk.
Polk – now a special assistant to the athletic director who, in total, spent nearly three decades of his life as the head coach of MSU baseball – is a Bulldog legend. Truth be told, even that label sells Polk short.
He won 1,373 career games. He's had six different Hall of Fame inductions. He guided eight different teams to the College World Series – six of those being Mississippi State squads.
It's tough to find the words to do Polk justice. So, the Bulldogs will instead turn to bronze.
Mississippi State will unveil a statue of Polk as part of 2023's Super Bulldog Weekend. Set to be located just outside the Adkerson Plaza entrance to Dudy Noble Field, MSU will reveal the Polk statue on Friday, April 14, prior to State's game against Ole Miss.
"I've spent a lot of time here and put a lot of effort in this program," Polk said. "I'm just pleased that others felt like I deserve this, whether I do or not."
Deserve it, Polk most certainly does. And the man who sculpted the statue is among the many who know it.
Dr. Rusty Reid was the hands behind the project. Reid, a retired dentist, is an MSU alumnus who was also the individual who designed the Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro statues that stand at the home plate entrance of Dudy Noble.
Just as he did with his prior creations of Thunder and Lightning, Reid is donating his latest statue. The chance to give back to his alma mater again is priceless.
"Having the choice of just writing a check for a donation or leaving something that the university can have on their campus in the form of a donation, I'd choose [to do things this way] in a second – especially since I like art," Reid said.
Reid said he always planned to give a gift to Mississippi State. He'd originally thought about a bulk donation at the end of his own career.
However, after picking up sculpting as a hobby about 20 years ago and traveling to several different universities, Reid felt inspired.
"One time it hit me that we don't have a lot of bronze statues and things like that compared to others," Reid said. "I started thinking, 'It would be really nice to give back [to MSU] in a different form.' I love sculpting, so I just approached [Mississippi State director of athletics] John Cohen with an idea of doing something. Next thing you know, that's how I got in on the Thunder and Lightning project."
A few years later, Reid is once again working his magic to honor Polk, as well as give Mississippi State and Bulldog fans something to enjoy for years and years to come.
"I've always been a school-spirit guy," Reid said. "I love my high school. I love where I went to college. I'm very competitive. I want Mississippi State to have the best and be better than other universities. All this was just an effort to say, 'Hey, I'd love to do this.' If it adds three statues to our university and the fans like it and the institution likes it and I've been blessed to be able to do it, I'm going to do it if the administration will allow it. John Cohen opened the door for it to happen and it has been a blast. I've loved every second of it."
When the Polk statue is unveiled in the spring, it will have taken approximately a full year to create. Conversations about the work started this past April. Soon after, Reid and Polk were getting together to begin the project.
"[Reid] spent a lot of time measuring me as he did in the past with Rafael and Will," Polk said. "He's so structured and so disciplined in what he does. He came up [to Starkville] on several different days and measured. It was everything from the distance between my right nostril and my right eye and nose. It was how I wore my pants and how I wore my hat. He wanted every ear lobe in the right place and everything. It was amazing how detailed he was. The detail is unbelievable."
Reid, given his background in dentistry, has long been concerned with getting details right. All this was right up his alley. Couple that with a tour Reid took of Polk's home, and Reid was committed to making sure he nailed Polk's statue.
"After I saw Coach Polk's museum, I knew how detailed he was," Reid explained. "I'd heard stories, but seeing that and touring, it really hit me and helped me understand his dedication to baseball throughout his life. So doing this statue, I wanted to put a little extra effort into it. Especially the details because I know that's what he likes."
Nothing was too small to matter, right down to the Rolex watch on the statue's left wrist representing a gift MSU had previously given Polk upon his first retirement.
"That was something that was very special to him," Reid said.
Again though, Reid didn't mind doing whatever it took to build the perfect representation of Polk.
Reid put together a two-foot working model made out of clay back around May. From there, it went to a company near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that used digital scanning to enlarge the statue and turn it into an eight-foot tall, Styrofoam-like version.
Reid got the larger statue back and over a couple of months, completed the clay structure. Polk visited Reid's studio near Monticello, Mississippi, in early October to give final approval.
"Looking at it, it was amazing," Polk said. "To see the details was unbelievable."
With Polk's endorsement, the statue was off to Austin, Texas, to a bronze foundry where it is currently. It'll take about five months to turn the clay version to bronze.
In the spring, the statue will be brought to its new home at Dudy Noble where it'll sit atop a three-foot concrete base. Then, on April 14, Polk will be celebrated as the statue is revealed.
"I look forward to that and having the opportunity to share with everybody the appreciation I have for this athletic department and my appreciation to Rusty Reid to do something like this for me," Polk said. "It's all really unbelievable."
Unbelievable, but undoubtedly fitting at the same time. At the house Polk helped build, he'll soon forever be standing at the door.
