Header - Baseball by the Letters

Year: 2010

Pitching Coach Herm Starrette Explains Movie "Bull Durham"

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Thank you, Herm Starrette.

I love the movie Bull Durham (20th Anniversary Edition)
. I love the interaction on the mound, those conferences and pep talks.

I had to ask a real coach what a real mound meeting is like. What might be the funniest thing ever said — even if you don’t laugh until returning to the bench.
Starrette proved the movie might be more real than we imagined, replying:

“Little Latin kid. Bases load, no outs. can’t tell you his name. He said to me, ‘No problem.’ I said, ‘Yes, there IS a problem.'”

Starrette received World Series rings as Baltimore’s minor league pitching coordinator in 1970, and as Philadelphia’s pitching coach in 1980.

Now, he’s facing the ultimate challenge:

“I appreciate your letter. May God bless you and your family. I’ve had a hard time with prostate cancer. It’s a long haul taking radiation. Thanks. Your friend, Herm Starrette.”

Write to Herm. Remember him. He concluded with:

“Don’t have time to write you the whole story, but a beautiful career and quite educational. Learn a lot from different people.”

Pitcher Bob Kipper Enjoys Autographs

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One of the best hobby stories of the 1990s starred pitcher Bob Kipper.

Yes, Kipper’s last year in the majors came in 1992. He lost his baseball card collection in a 1997 house fire. That’s when collectors proved why this hobby is special.

The letters started coming. Not autograph request letters, but gifts. Gifts of replacement cards.

I contacted Kipper when writing my 2001 book Collecting Baseball Cards. At that time, he had appeared on 43 different cards. His gratitude hadn’t dimmed. Kipper replied:

“Till this day, I still get a charge out of signing a baseball card of mine. It is definitely a big thrill to be on so many baseball cards. It was my dream to become a major league baseball player. I think it’s a kick to think other individuals would actually want an autograph of mine!”

Finding Josh Wilker’s Cardboard Gods

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I just began reading a fascinating hobby-related book. What do baseball cards mean to you? Could they help get you through a difficult childhood?

Those are the questions at the forefront of Josh Wilker’s memoir, Cardboard Gods: An All-American Tale Told Through Baseball Cards
This isn’t the typical “aw, shucks” happy recollection of youth. Wilker writes with painful honesty and insightful humor of his parents and other challenges. He reminded me of the card shop owner I met years ago in Washington state.

“My cards helped me growing up,” he said, telling about coping with two constantly-ill parents. “I’d stare at the pictures until they started moving. Then I could sleep.”

JoshTheAuthor has been a noted blogger since 2006, with a blog by the same name. His essays are funny and insightful. “Me, too!” is a common reaction you’ll have when reading.

I e-mailed Josh, wondering if autographs or correspondence ever become part of his baseball cards-as-life musings. He replied:

“I actually haven’t gotten any emails from former players. A guy who seems to have been Don Stanhouse did once comment on my site. I wrote about that connection here:

In that post, I also mention my childhood desire to connect with Yaz. A couple days ago, someone who’d read an article about my appearance with Bill Lee at Fenway (an article that mentions my yearning as a kid for a Yaz autograph) offered to send me an autograph her husband got from Yaz at a grocery store when he was shilling for kielbasa. That kind of connection is about as close as I get to the gods, which is kind of how I like it, I guess, off in the cheap seats. I mean, it was very sweet to have someone think to share that autograph with me. That’s a big part of the fun of the site, connecting with people who have stories about close but brief or distant and lasting connections with the guys on the cards.”

Read this blog. Get this book. Prepare for a movie! Thanks to Josh, we’ll all be seeing old cards with new eyes.

Phillies Coach Milt Thompson Offers A Lesson For All Collectors

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Long before Milt Thompson dished out batting tips, he offered me a valuable hobby lesson.

I believe the year was 1989. I was in St. Louis, working on my book Redbirds Revisited. I was waiting in the Cardinals main office in “old” Busch Stadium.

I heard rubber pounding the pavement outside. A man in his 40s came sprinting to the door, shouting, “Sir, may I have your autograph?”

The “Sir” was faster, slipping in to the restricted office space without signing.

The receptionist greeted Thompson. She had his comp tickets ready for that night’s game.

“Sir?” he asked her with an impish grin. “You know anyone named ‘Sir’? My name’s not Sir!”

Sure, Thompson could have felt ornery, or feared that one autograph collector would attract a swarm of other seekers.

Still, his comment stuck. I’ve done everything possible in the years since to personalize every contact I make with every player and retiree. I’ve wanted to make every person feel unique. I research everyone before writing. My letter proves I KNOW them, but want to know them better.

Thanks, Milton Bernard Thompson!

Remembering 1933-42 Yankees Bullpen Catcher Joe DiGangi, Autograph All-Star

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“I only collect players!”

“He wasn’t on any cards!”

Collectors who limit themselves miss out on so many possibilities.

Exhibit A is Joe DiGangi, who passed away at age 94 in 2009.

Before you run for your baseball encyclopedia, know that DiGangi never played a major league game. However, he was a part of those great New York Yankees teams from 1933-42. For a little pay and the some of the best seats in Yankee Stadium, Joe worked as a bullpen catcher. He was there warming up a pitcher when Lou Gehrig made his “luckiest man” farewell. DiGangi saw DiMaggio’s hit streak.

Best of all, he wrote about it all! After appearing in a 2007 New York Times article, collectors tracked down the retiree, sharing his address. Joe lavished every letter with insights on Yankee greats he knew and worked with. He photocopied his scrapbook, showing himself pictured with pinstriped superstars.

Listen to a couple of the luckiest collectors, those who wrote to the non-player when they could:

Kevin Rozell writes an impressive Yankees blog. He shared an image of what Joe sent.

“He was a part of Yankees lore and one of the last people who had contact with some of the greatest players to ever put on the pinstripes. I thought his story was fascinating,” Kevin recalled.

“He sent me a nice letter, included some great photos and signed them. I sent him a letter back, thanking him for everything he sent me.”

Just look at the inspiring Edwin’s Autographs Through the Mail, and the jackpot struck with a letter to DiGangi. (The blog contains some awesome examples of customized index cards, too, but that’s a rave for another day…)

From Collector Tom Cipollo:

“Here is what Joe Digangi did for me. I wrote to him probably 3-4 times. He sent me some cards (around 10) of players in that era including catcher Bill Dickey, a photo re-print (card sized) of the Babe with Gary Cooper in 1942, a custom index card the he made or someone made for him and he signed that, a computer printout of a phote of himself with Tommy Lasorda at a game recently, another computer printout photo of Yankee Stadium and he wrote on the top of it: ” a rare photo of Yankee Stadium World Series game 1927 from Joe DiGangi bullpen catcher 1933-1942.

“I sent him a baseball to sign and he sent it back with my request of him signing it on the sweet spot with an added bonus: around the rest of the baseball he wrote players names who he had played with and a brief story/info about them. Players on this ball are Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Phil Rizzuto. In 2008, I sent him a little bit of money to thank him for everything and he responded with a 3 page letter thanking me for the money (because some people forgot to put postage on the return envelopes that he would put on for them).

In this letter included what we did after the war with his family, what his family did what his kids did, talked about moving to St. Thomas and helping to build the many resorts we all stay at when we visit there. He talked about his final move to California and how he has been there for 22 years.

At the end of the letter he wrote “hope all is well with you and I would sure love to hear from you again. I hope all my mail gets to you in good shape. Love to all Connie & Joe DiGangi.”

As evidenced in his obituary, Joe DiGangi was a classic baseball storyteller. When looking to future people to contact by mail for autographs and memories, gamble the stamps. You may get one last look at a past chapter in baseball history before the book closes.