Went to the Shrine of the Eternals and an Autograph Convention Broke Out

Aloha, everybody,

Last Sunday I headed out to Pasadena for the 20th Induction Ceremony of the Shrine of the Eternals. The class of 2018 included Rusty Staub, Nancy Faust and Tommy John. There was also an appearance from the San Diego Chicken ( a former inductee as well).

It was a great day for baseball lovers such as myself, but the autograph collector inside of me grimaced at the mockery made by autograph hounds who took advantage of the celebrity and athlete's goodwill.

Hope you enjoy the video, and if you do watch, please do so on the Youtube site. Your views on Youtube help the channel generate buzz. Thanks and Aloha!

You Might Have Missed This One

Aloha, everybody,

As you know, Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey Jr. were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this past weekend. Sure, that was a big deal, and I would have loved to be there, but living far from Cooperstown, there was just no way I could hope to attend the ceremonies. 

As baseball luck would have it, the weekend before that, I had the opportunity to attend a slightly different induction. Legendary Dodger Don Newcombe, legendary athlete Bo Jackson, and some sportswriter were being inducted into the Shrine of The Eternals. 

 My plan was to get a scoop for my LA DodgersReport website and catch Newk for an LADR exclusive interview. Like I said, that was the plan. Things didn't exactly work out that way, but I did walk away with a story. 

It turned out the sportswriter was the legendary Arnold Hano. You may know him from such writing exploits as his book A Day in the Bleachers, which immortalized The Catch, made by Willie Mays. 

 Spoiler Alert: I never did get that Newcombe interview, but nevertheless, it was an auspicious baseball day, that I did not see coming. You can check that story out here. 

I'll get ya next time, Newk!

 

Aloha!

 

Has Anybody Seen My Wallet Card?

Aloha, everybody, 

The new year begins with a look back at ATBATT's participation in Wallet Card 2015. 

My wallet card's adventure started out with excitement and unlimited potential, but ended in a mystery. 

Let's begin by going back to this same time, one year ago. Settling upon which card would have the honors of representing was difficult. In the end I chose 2012 Topps Archives Sandy Koufax.

Here's its first appearance of the year, stuffed into a pay telephone outside a crummy diner...

 (Note the accidentally artful composition of reflecting myself in the phone receiver.) 

This first photo gave me the inspiration to cast wallet card as a traveling icon which would document my 2015 adventures. 

Wc was exposed to culture and art...

...and enjoyed a cold one from time to time.

Of course Wc supported the other local teams in town...

 And even visited the (other) Baseball Hall of Fame, the Baseball Reliquary...

But wallet card's favorite place was the same as mine...

 WC was even featured in a shot with a replica 1963 World Series Championship ring, a WS that saw Koufax earn the MVP award.

That was wallet card's final appearance here for 2015. It remained in my wallet for roughly another month, until I attended my final Dodgers game of the year, sometime in late August. 

Shortly after we arrived at our seats, I pulled wallet card out and placed him in my pocket (or so I thought) for easy access photos later in the evening. 

After a couple of innings I reached for Wc and he wasn't in my pocket. Further searching proved fruitless as Wc was nowhere to be found. Lost forever. 

So my Wc never did make it to the end of the year, but it was last seen in the perfect place to disappear - Chavez Ravine. 

Aloha, Wallet Card, wherever you may be. 

Wallet Card Goes To The (Other) Hall Of Fame

Aloha,

Some of you may have read about my meeting Wes Parker at the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals Induction Day. 

Here is my experience of what a grand Induction Day it was! 

The induction was held at Pasadena's Central Library, where there is a simultaneous exhibition of curios and memorabilia from the Reliquary's archives. Here are a few shots from the exhibit...

How about 10 cent beer night! What could possibly go wrong? 
 

Who doesn't want one of these cool beer coolers? 
 

Inside the glass you can see the actual plaque the Godfather of Feathers received from the Shrine of the Eternals. 
 

Just when you thought you've seen it all...along comes a tortilla with Walter O"Malley's ever-lovin' mug on it. 
 

Wallet Card rightfully took his place beside the other baseball oddballs. 

Laker Dave and I arrived 45 minutes early for the ceremonies, and a line had already formed. 

Note the guy standing alone in the blue shirt and light-colored pants. Yup, it's none other than Wes Parker. He was in line one person ahead of Laker Dave and I, and we never even noticed. I didn't even notice that fact until I inserted this pic into the post! 

Before the ceremonies, just milling around, and noticed this cool jersey. More on this guy coming up. 

 Finally, it's time for the ceremony to begin. Baseball Reliquary Executive Director, Terry Cannon, calls us to order with the ringing of the cowbell; this is done in honor of legendary Brooklyn Dodgers super-fan, Hilda Chester. 
 

The event began with a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner in a fashion that, according to Terry, "We have likely never seen before, nor will we ever see again".  Boy, was he right! 
 

Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the podium for this one. Can you spot our lovely singer on the far side of the podium? 

Here's a shot of her belting out a high note...
 

I have never seen before, nor shall I see again. Thanks to one-of-a-kind singer, Jackie Lee.

On to the first award - the Hilda Award - presented to Tom Keefe, the founder and president of the Eddie Gaedel Society, Spokane Washington, Chapter 1. 

The society keeps alive the legacy of Gaedel’s historic walk into baseball immortality as a member of the St. Louis Browns in 1951.  They meet annually on August 19^th, the anniversary of Gaedel’s one plate appearance, at O’Doherty’s Irish Grille & Pub in Spokane.
 

 Next was the Tony Salin Memorial Award, given to Gary Joseph Cieradkowski, the man behind The Infinite Baseball Card Set blog. His blog is definitely worth a visit or two. He recently published The League of Outsider Baseball: An Illustrated History of Baseball’s Forgotten Heroes. 

Joseph gave a great speech, fascinating us with his tales of crossing the country's minor league parks presenting an exhibit from the Babe Ruth Museum, which featured Ruth's priceless bat from 1927.

Then came the actual inductions. This years class was Glenn Burke, Steve Bilko and Sy Berger. If you don't know who they are, I encourage you to read about them, as they are all certainly deserving of the honor. 

Below is a shot of Glenn Burke's sister, who accepted his induction into the Shrine. Burke, the first openly gay player in baseball, played for the Dodgers, and was traded to Oakland because of the fact he was gay. 

We saw a video clip where his former teammates spoke about how they were devastated by their close friend being shipped off. Some wept openly at their lockers at the news. 
 

 Below is Steve Bilko, star of the old Pacific Coast League, the Babe Ruth of the West Coast. What a larger than life character. I am now a Steve Bilko collector. (Got that, trade partners?) 

Here is Sy Berger's plaque. Speaking of larger than life characters, ol' Sy was the father of the modern baseball card, and Topps' representative to baseball for many years. 

He was very close to numerous players from the 50's and 60's. Willie Mays called Sy his best friend, and said he never would have made it in baseball if not for Sy. 

A few more shots of the awards and plaques...
 

What an afternoon of baseball love, shared with lovers of baseball.

 The old tales, often touching, of these baseball players and fans were fascinating and wonderful. I can't wait till next year!  

Aloha! 

There Is Nothing Like A Surprise Auto!

Aloha! 

Today Wallet Card and I went out to the Baseball Reliquary's annual induction of honorees into the "other Hall of Fame", the Shrine of the Eternals. 

But that's a story for another post. THIS post is about me running into one of my baseball heroes - my first favorite Dodger! 

Before Steve Garvey was the iron man at first base for the Dodgers, there was Wes Parker - a southpaw just like me. 

So there I was, sitting in the auditorium, awaiting the start of ceremonies, when the guy sitting next to me (who will also be featured in a future post), taps me on the shoulder and asks if I know who that guy is across the aisle; the guy who's signing autographs.

I look over and see a boy of about six approach the mystery man and hand him a baseball to be signed. 

I don't know who it is, so I ask Laker Dave, who is sitting next to me, if he knows who it is. Suddenly I get a hunch. He looks a little older, but he's got that same long and lean frame - I think it's Wes! 

 Laker Dave immediately jumps on his phone and we're scrolling photos trying to match one of them to the man across the aisle. That might be him. 

It's a real old-time Dodger RIGHT THERE! 

I decide to take a chance. I go over to him, and carefully picking my moment, I say, "Excuse me, but my friends and I have a bet. I'm betting that you're Wes Parker." 

He keeps a straight face...maybe I'm wrong???!!!! 

Then an ever-so-slight smile emerges, and he says, "That's a pretty good guess." 

Immediately I'm a ten-year old kid again, right beside my baseball hero! I tell him he was my first favorite Dodger, and he jokes that at least I didn't say Sandy Koufax. 

I ask for an autograph and he obliged me. I picked out what I considered an unimportant page in my program and asked him to feel free to sign as large as he liked. 

Wow !

Afterward, Wes joked that my friend doesn't get an autograph for betting against him. 

THANKS for the great autograph, Wes! 

More on the inductions of Steve Bilko (the Babe Ruth of the West Coast), Glenn Burke (the first openly gay major leaguer), and Sy Berger (50 years with Topps) into the Shrine of the Eternals, to come later.

Aloha! 

Visiting The Baseball Reliquary - The Gifts (Part 2)

Aloha everybody,

Here we go with Part 2 of the great gifts that we received from Terry. I believe the following are called caches. 

They were designed and produced by Terry and they commemorate various sporting special events and personalities. These are for you basketball enthusiasts...

Of course the last couple are baseball-centric. Cool stuff. 

In addition, Terry dropped a couple of packs of cards on us to enjoy ripping. Last time  I didn't have too much luck, but these packs were A-OK.  I pulled several guys that I am always happy to get cards of - and they are all new for my collection...

Rickey...nuff said

Last time I got Griffey Sr. Now I got The Kid. Nice!

Check that bat!!!!

Check out Doc's eyes. Does he always look that way when he pitches - or is he checking a runner on second?

BOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!

Sweet Kirby. His autograph is one of the tops in my collection. 

After our great day at the Reliquary, Wallet Card and the boys stopped at a local establishment to check out some craft brews.  You can see my selection just above Wallet Card. I chose Oskar Blues because...well, you know...

 Now if they would just get that tarp off the field in St. Louis and play ball! 

Alohaaaaaa 

Visiting the Baseball Reliquary - The Gifts (Part One)

Aloha everybody,

It's a sad day in Dodgers Nation today as another fan (and team)  favorite - Juan Uribe - was unceremoniously dumped....errrr, traded...to the Atlanta Braves. I want to like my team, but those new front office guys seem to think nothing of shipping off fan favorites (Matt Kemp, Dee Gordon, and now Papi).  *sigh* 

On a brighter note, my recent visit to the Baseball Reliquary (Institute for Baseball Studies) also included some awesome gifts from good ol' Terry. Let's get right to them, shall we? 

We begin with another uncut sheet of baseball cards. These are from a tribute set of the infamous Black Sox. 

One new thing we learned about Terry from our last visit was Terry used to produce baseball cards - back in the junkwax era. These uncut sheets and cards are from one of those past endeavors.  

The blur is from the sheet being too large for my scanner.

 If you should ever visit the Reliquary, ask Terry to tell you about his past limited edition autographed sets of the top high school players in the country - and his great gets of young high school phenoms Derek Jeter and Manny Ramirez. 

Back to the Black Sox. In addition to the uncut sheets, Terry also gave us complete sets of the cards. Here's the back of card number one...

Note: Produced in an edition of 5000, by our hero.

Here are a couple of sample cards and backs. I absolutely dig this set.
 

Terry tossed in more limited items, programs from the past ceremonies to induct folks into the Shrine of the Eternals. Here is a look at two of them...

 The program from 1999 is from the first year and the first class of Eternals. I chose to show the 2006 program because of the Roy Campanella stamp. 

Speaking of stamps, I want to also point out the special postmark the Pasadena Post Office made for the Induction Day. Terry designed these special baseball-themed postmarks that changed every year. 

Here's a look inside the 1999 program...

Dock Ellis' page...

Hey, ol' Dock was born in L.A., just like me!

Here's one of the back covers. I chose it because of the Brooklyn connection. Note the emcee for the night was Elayne Boosler, and they had legendary Dodger Stadium organist, Nancy Bea Hefley. Wow! I'm sure sorry I missed that night.

That's all for now, folks. Part Two will feature more cards and something special for you fans of vintage basketball. 

BTW - I didn't even notice my previous post was Number 500! Wow.  That makes this one just another, but apparently I'm now on my way to post number 1000. 

Aloha!