This past week has been a little crazy. I had planned on finishing a few posts that had been saved as drafts, had planned on mowing the lawn on Thursday when I had a day off from work, and had planned on doing some more ‘93 Topps customs. Well, we found out on Monday that my sons day care would be closed on Thursday and Friday as they got ready to open up for the fall School schedule, so that kind of threw the mowing lawn on Thursday out of the window as I would be watching him. So I ended up somehow doing that Tuesday afternoon between a Florida thunderstorm and 90 degree heat, and between that, a printing project, and recording some music for our church online service, I just didn’t have the time to get to any of the posts I had planned. I also found out that the Negro Leagues we’re celebrating their anniversary, so I decided to put the drafted posts on the back burner again and talk about them.
Growing up, I’ve heard of the Negro Leagues, but didn’t know very much about them besides some of the bigger names like Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige, and Josh Gibson. Part of that is due to the fact that Topps didn’t issue cards until 1951, 4 years after Jackie Robinson made his debut. I also feel that growing up, it just wasn’t covered in depth in baseball books that I read. I read a few baseball history books and a few biographies, but most talked about current stars or guys in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. The Internet was just in its infancy, so not too much there either. Perhaps maybe if Topps made a Negro League history set, it would’ve helped me learn more.
I thought Josh Gibson was something of a folk hero with stories of his power. I thought Cool Papa Bell was faster that Ricky Henderson and that Satchel Paige was one cool pitcher and unique dude. But aside from those guys and a few other big names, I couldn’t tell you much else. That will hopefully help you excuse my ignorance when I explain what happened in 1999.
I went to Spring Training games in Florida every year since 1992 or so. After the 1998 season, I really wanted to see Mark McGwire play in person. There were about 3 teams that trained in my area, so I had a halfway decent shot. Lakeland, my hometown and also where Detroit trained, didn’t play them. Winter Haven, about 30 minutes away, was where the Indians trained, and they didn’t play St. Louis that spring, so my last chance was the Royals in Baseball City. I’m not really sure if the town was called Baseball City, but it was about 35 minutes away from me, just off of exit 55 on I-4. They were playing the Cardinals that spring, and somehow, my dad and I got tickets.
Had I been a little older, I would’ve perused the internet and found out the entire rosters for each team and brought cards of everyone along to get autographs. I don’t remember if MLB.com had non-roster invitees listed then, but I definitely missed out on getting my ‘94 Stadium Club card of Steve Scarsone autographed before the game. He did, however sign my ‘95 Fleer Ultra checklist. I usually brought checklists along for players to sign if I didn’t have a card. That’s what kind of makes the main part of the story so strange.
So I was homeschooled then, so the fact that the game was on a Thursday at 1 wasn’t that big of a deal. We got there, and made it to the game sometime between the end of BP and the start of the game. McGwire wasn’t there (I don’t think I ever saw him live), but JD Drew was, and everyone was going bonkers trying to get his autograph. I missed him, but I didn’t have any cards of him, so he would’ve ended up on the checklist. Right before the anthem, we went back to our seats, and I noticed people getting the autograph of an older gentleman sitting in the home plate box seats. Being an autograph collector, I knew I needed to go down there and at least see who it was.
Someone mentioned the name, but I didn’t recognize him, but he seemed really important. Important enough not to get the autograph on a checklist, but on my ticket stub. The man signed it, but seemed a little annoyed to be signing so close to the anthem. After getting his autograph, something told me to shake his hand. That doesn’t happen often. I stretched out my hand and he shook it. I remember thinking that his hand felt dry and cracked and flaky. Fitting, as I would later find out, since he had endured years of hardships and from all of the hard work he had put in during his career. We sat down, missed out on a George Brett autograph, got Fernando Tatis, Sr. on the checklist, and saw Willie McGee down a bud light on the bus and give a fan the ‘thumbs up’. I think I also missed out on JD Drew, but that doesn’t matter. I got a legend on the ticket stub. The guy on the stub?
Growing up, I’ve heard of the Negro Leagues, but didn’t know very much about them besides some of the bigger names like Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige, and Josh Gibson. Part of that is due to the fact that Topps didn’t issue cards until 1951, 4 years after Jackie Robinson made his debut. I also feel that growing up, it just wasn’t covered in depth in baseball books that I read. I read a few baseball history books and a few biographies, but most talked about current stars or guys in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. The Internet was just in its infancy, so not too much there either. Perhaps maybe if Topps made a Negro League history set, it would’ve helped me learn more.
I thought Josh Gibson was something of a folk hero with stories of his power. I thought Cool Papa Bell was faster that Ricky Henderson and that Satchel Paige was one cool pitcher and unique dude. But aside from those guys and a few other big names, I couldn’t tell you much else. That will hopefully help you excuse my ignorance when I explain what happened in 1999.
I went to Spring Training games in Florida every year since 1992 or so. After the 1998 season, I really wanted to see Mark McGwire play in person. There were about 3 teams that trained in my area, so I had a halfway decent shot. Lakeland, my hometown and also where Detroit trained, didn’t play them. Winter Haven, about 30 minutes away, was where the Indians trained, and they didn’t play St. Louis that spring, so my last chance was the Royals in Baseball City. I’m not really sure if the town was called Baseball City, but it was about 35 minutes away from me, just off of exit 55 on I-4. They were playing the Cardinals that spring, and somehow, my dad and I got tickets.
Had I been a little older, I would’ve perused the internet and found out the entire rosters for each team and brought cards of everyone along to get autographs. I don’t remember if MLB.com had non-roster invitees listed then, but I definitely missed out on getting my ‘94 Stadium Club card of Steve Scarsone autographed before the game. He did, however sign my ‘95 Fleer Ultra checklist. I usually brought checklists along for players to sign if I didn’t have a card. That’s what kind of makes the main part of the story so strange.
So I was homeschooled then, so the fact that the game was on a Thursday at 1 wasn’t that big of a deal. We got there, and made it to the game sometime between the end of BP and the start of the game. McGwire wasn’t there (I don’t think I ever saw him live), but JD Drew was, and everyone was going bonkers trying to get his autograph. I missed him, but I didn’t have any cards of him, so he would’ve ended up on the checklist. Right before the anthem, we went back to our seats, and I noticed people getting the autograph of an older gentleman sitting in the home plate box seats. Being an autograph collector, I knew I needed to go down there and at least see who it was.
Someone mentioned the name, but I didn’t recognize him, but he seemed really important. Important enough not to get the autograph on a checklist, but on my ticket stub. The man signed it, but seemed a little annoyed to be signing so close to the anthem. After getting his autograph, something told me to shake his hand. That doesn’t happen often. I stretched out my hand and he shook it. I remember thinking that his hand felt dry and cracked and flaky. Fitting, as I would later find out, since he had endured years of hardships and from all of the hard work he had put in during his career. We sat down, missed out on a George Brett autograph, got Fernando Tatis, Sr. on the checklist, and saw Willie McGee down a bud light on the bus and give a fan the ‘thumbs up’. I think I also missed out on JD Drew, but that doesn’t matter. I got a legend on the ticket stub. The guy on the stub?
Mr. John ‘Buck’ O’Neil.
I didn’t know who he was at the time, but later to realize how great the man was. He was instrumental in getting the Negro League Museum started, and helped preserve so much of their history. He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. More than a businessman like Marvin Miller or Steinbrenner. He was a true baseball man, and even though he didn’t get to play in the Majors, he wasn’t bitter, but did what he could for the game, becoming a coach and scout. It’s a shame he didn’t get in when he was alive. He contributed a lot to the game, and should be in because of that.
While I’m still probably rusty on my Negro League history, but reading some of the blogs I follow helps, and there are some new card sets out that document the players. I hope to learn more about the leagues and add more cards of their players to my collection. It’s unfortunate that the league ever had to exist, but we are lucky that it gave us the chance to see such greats play, and we are lucky to have Mr. O’Neil to help with the museum and preserve the history.
Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy
That Buck O'Neil auto is fabulous.
ReplyDeleteGreat story, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI actually just read a very good book about Buck O'Neil by Joe Posnanski. I'd recommend it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Jeremy! How fortunate you were. I would've loved a chance to me him. Honestly, his signature and the opportunity would've been worth more to me than any other one you'd obtained that day. A wonderful memory!
ReplyDelete