Treasure The Memory

[barrysloate]

Rob- that's a great story.

[bh3443]

Rob, Bruce and the rest..... thanks for sharing these tremendous stories! I promoted shows for 30+years and had a few stores so I had players sign autographs frequently. I was at a Bruins game and invited into the Alumni room by score-keeper, Arthur Katz. It was a few days before Christmas and I had a great time with Ken Hodge, Terry O'Rielly and Ace Bailey. It was the last time I saw Ace before the 9/11 tragedy the next year. Ace gave me his business card as a scout for the Kings and an old one from Edmonton. We had a blast and although I still see Hodge, O'Rielly and others, damn, I really miss Ace........ I have another tale to tell later about how I got Pete Rose's Wampum Card for Foxwoods Casino!

[Oldtix]

Back in the summer of '67, my dad took me to St. Louis to see the Cardinals play a night game against the Giants and Juan Marichal. I was unaware that Dad and my Uncle Jack (a long-time Nebraska sportscaster) had arranged a little surprise for me.

We got to our seats during batting practice. Following prearranged instructions, Dad took me down to the railing near the Cardinal dugout and told an usher my name and that I had been sent here by Jack. The usher relayed the message to someone in the dugout. To my utter amazement, Bob Gibson popped out of the dugout and walked right over to me. He shook my hand and introduced himself (like I didn't know who HE was!). Gibson was very friendly and told me he'd heard I was a good third baseman. I have absolutely no idea what...if anything...I said to him. He said he had a present for me, and handed me a Tim McCarver bat and an autographed team ball.

As if that wasn't enough...I caught an Orlando Cepeda foul ball that night. It seems my Uncle Jack did a daily radio show with Gibson in Omaha (Gibson's hometown) during the offseason. What a day!

[chris6net]

My Grandparents always rented a place on the Jersey Shore in the 60,s and 70,s in Spring Lake NJ and my grandfather became friends with Gil MgDougal. One Year I think it was 71 or 72 during the AS Break I got to meet Phil Rizzuto, Mickey Mantle and a few other retired Yankees during a block party. I remember a few players talking about how ownership did not care about the team(CBS). I look back and will always remember that party. CN

[peterose4hof]

Thanks to all for sharing their stories. I’ve really enjoyed reading them.

Living my whole life in Florida, I spent every March/early-April at the ballpark for Spring Training games. I have so many wonderful memories. Here are a couple.

At a Red Sox home game in Winter Haven in the early 1980s my dad boosted me over the bullpen fence and instructed me to get an autograph from the elderly man sitting in the golf cart. He looked cockeyed at this 7 year old boy (me) and before he could ask where I came from I politely said “May I have your autograph please sir?” He smiled, signed an autograph for me and then told me to go back to where I came from as quickly as possible. I ran back to the fence and had my dad pull me back into my seat. I said, “Dad, who was that nice old man?” He said, “Son, that’s one of the best players of all time, Ted Williams” Of course I still have that autograph in my collection.

In Kissimmee, where the Astros play, my brother and I used to hop the fences (sneak into) the minor league facilities adjacent to the major league stadium. All the players would walk through there after they were done for the day and head to the showers. This was a great place to get autographs. One day I was waiting outside the clubhouse when Nolan Ryan came walking by. As I approached him to ask for his autograph he pulled off his game-worn hat and said “Here, you want this?” I was so dumbfounded as he handed it to me that I didn’t even think to get him to sign it.