Carl Erskine article todays NYT
 

A wonderful article about a great man. Apologies in advance for anyone who gets hung up on a paywall.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/17/s...eil-award.html

Just read it. Wonderful indeed. What a nice human being.

Great article, thanks for sharing!

What stood out to me was his devotion to his son with disabilities, and his final comment at the end of the article. Black or white, every bust in the Hall of Fame is bronze! Profound

I always liked Carl. Nice Article and Happy he's still with us! Thanks for sharing.

As a kid of the 1980s, I wrote many letters to retired players for autographs. Sadly, my return letters are long gone. But I always remember Erskine for being one of the players that wrote back to me.

Same. I enclosed a card and post-paid envelope. He sent back the card, beautifully signed, and a letter. And he did it GRATIS! No stupid fee or any of that. Same with Johnny Vander Meer, Bob Feller (who both signed in person), and Jim Brown (who also signed and returned).

A great article. Thanks for posting it.

Anderson is about 20 miles up the road from me. Erskine is the only autograph I’ve paid for at a show in the last 30 years or so. Had a nice, if brief, interaction

He played the national anthem on his harmonica at a couple of Pacers games in 2013- a game against Brooklyn and a playoff game against Miami

I am pretty sure he played Back Home Again in Indiana at the state basketball finals. Johnny Wilson, mentioned in the story, was the 1946 Indiana Mr Basketball and later played for the Globetrotters.

Oisk!

Same thing with me with respect to autographs. He did a signing two locally a few years ago with all proceeds benefiting the Special Olympics, and I was more than happy to pay the very reasonable fee he was charging. I also saw him play the National Anthem several times at Pacers games and had the pleasure of interviewing him once and speaking/corresponding with him a number of times. You would be hard-pressed to find a nicer and more humble ex-athlete from any sport. He was content with his accomplishments, and why not? But I always felt bad because his career was cut short by injury---he really played several years with a bad arm, and who knows whether he could have made the HOF. Yet he still excelled; by now I'm sure everyone knows about his W-L record, his 2 no-no's, the WS K record he set, and how he really dominated Mantle in the several times they met. Just as importantly, he is still a gem of a person off the field.

I had him autograph this at a small signing about 40 years ago, one of the most treasured items in my collection. I remember he commented on how old the card was and how young he looked before signing it. A Hall of Fame human being even before this year's honor.

Great article and amazing so much to learn about people.

Thanks for sharing

Very well expressed, Jethrod3. If I may say from you and the others have written, Carl Erskine is in the Golden Hall of Fame, where it really counts for something. Though I've never met him, after reading Roger Kahn's THE BOYS OF SUMMER 50 years ago, I had a much deeper appreciation for this man. ---Brian Powell

Thanks Brian. For those interested in Carl or the Dodgers, Carl's two books "Tales from the Dodgers Dugout" and "Tales from the Dodgers Dugout: Extra Innings," are a pleasure to read, and his anecdotes are written in pretty much the same style as if he were talking to you. His book "The Parallel" mentioned in the NYT piece, is also a good read, and I hope they do develop it for use in Indiana schools, because it would be a useful educational tool. Lastly, the documentary by Ted Green is excellent, and worth a watch. It pops up occasionally on the PBS and MLB networks.

Many thanks, Jethrod3, for the leads on some great Carl Erskine reading. As I love great stories, I know I would get very engaged in those books! --- Brian Powell

Great guy; he was one of the first players I wrote to in 2014 when I first got back into the hobby. I don't have a picture with me, but he signed a 1957 Topps, and sad to say, but he's one of the last of the folks that I wrote to at that time who are still with us.