Header - Baseball by the Letters

Year: 2011

Dick Adams Managed Joe DiMaggio!

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If World War II wasn’t incredible enough…

Dick Adams, known as a first sacker with the 1947 Philadelphia Athletics, managed his Army base team. One fellow soldier was none other than Joe DiMaggio.

Adams remembered:

“Yes, I managed Joe DiMaggio in the Army, then played against him in 1947. I was with the Phila A’s. He was with the Yankees.

He was a very quiet person. Didn’t stay on the Base any longer than he had to. Went to Hollywood a lot. He always had gas tickets and tires.”

[The government rationed both in World War II.]

“His baseball skills were VERY GOOD (like always).”

Speaking of Hollywood, Adams has lived a movie-like existence.

First, he lived the major league dream with brother Bobby Adams. Did they talk about playing pro baseball as kids?

“About my brother and me: we went to a tryout camp in Berkeley, Calif. during Easter vacation, 1939. We slept in the car at night, ’cause we never had any $ for hotel rooms, and then we got a $200 bonus for signing (each of us $200).

We thought we were rich. That’s when we talked about playing in the Major Leagues. He had a much longer career in the ‘show’ (14 years) and ended up with the Cubs.

Baseball today is not like it was in my time! Too much $ nowadays. No team play. All ‘me, me, me’ for $ and long-term contracts.”

Although he’s been gone from the diamond for decades, Adams never left the keyboard. A professional pianist beginning at age 13, he keeps sharing his musical gifts today.

“I just returned from playing a luncheon for old, bold pilots — all WWII pilots. Even several German pilots who have become citizens of USA. Quite a nice occasion. By the way, I had four gigs this past week. I still play piano. Big Band music. WWII stuff.”

To learn more of Adams in World War II (and his life after baseball) check out the always-fine “Baseball In Wartime.”

Coming Friday: Fan and collector Kohei Nirengi, championing America’s Pastime in Japan.

 

 

Write To Every Charlie Lea NOW

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The website http://www.signedautographed.com/
had this and lots of Leas for $20.40 each.
Through October, he was an easy
sig for two stamps.

Former pitcher Charlie Lea, a Memphis Rebirds broadcaster since 2002, died last week of a heart attack at age 54.

Lea pitched a 1981 no-hitter for the Montreal Expos. He started and won the 1984 All-Star Game.

According to http://www.sportscollectors.net/, the results board logged 119 successes in 134 attempts for Lea. He was signing 88 percent of the time.

When I first began collecting autographs by mail during the Stone Age, veteran collectors suggested I get the old-timers first.

That game plan doesn’t always work. Write to your favorites NOW, no matter what the age.

Coming Thursday: Dick Adams, a member of the 1947 Philadelphia Athletics, remembers the team he managed in the Army and a guy named Joe DiMaggio.

Turk Wendell Wins With U.S. Soldiers

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(Photo courtesy Sgt. Kevin Stabinsky)

Turk Wendell, a former major league baseball pitcher, autographs a squishy ball to give out during his visit to Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Oct. 9., 2007. He’s made three visits to war zones, and awaits the call to do more on behalf of American troops!

“I am very sorry for your loss.”

Turk Wendell wasn’t talking baseball. I told him about a hero of mine. My cousin Dustin Yancey, just 22, died in Iraq Nov. 4, 2005. His truck led an Army convoy that couldn’t escape a roadside bomb.

I remember his modest Iowa funeral. I expected to see the streets lined for him. I puzzled over the lack of elected officials who were silent on that day. Not even a city councilman made himself known.

No one understood. I was so happy that Turk Wendell did. I told him about Dustin, because the former pitcher has made three trips overseas to show other soldiers they’re appreciated. Why?

Wendell replied…

“I was very fortunate to go overseas and witness the war firsthand and see what it is really like, not from the B.S. on the news channels. The troops were so impress that myself and the few other ex-big leaguers would put our lives on the line to boost their morale and take their minds off the war, if only for a moment.


I was so touched, I went back to U.S. and went down to enlist myself. But being cold blind, they would only permit me to obtain certain duties, and I wanted to shoot!


So I figured I would just continue to go over whenever they asked me to.


Three trips later, I feel I did nothing in life by playing baseball. The Armed Forces are the real heroes of the U.S.A. Though baseball is America’s game, our Armed Forces should have their own baseball cards!!


Take care and God bless,
Turk Wendell”

Thank you, Turk. Thank you, Dustin.

Coming Wednesday: The message of Charlie Lea

Shades of ‘Bull Durham’ — Eavesdropping On An Actual New York Mets Mound Conference Between Turk Wendell and Mike Piazza

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An unheralded storyteller!
Wendell could be our
next BOB UECKER!

I just got an early Christmas present from former pitcher Turk Wendell.
I asked him about the best advice he ever received from a catcher on the mound.

He gave me something better. Before he penned his first sentence completed, I knew he had shared a baseball classic, something worthy of a Seinfeld episode, or a Bull Durham sequel. Wendell wrote:

“Best advice on the mound —

Mike Piazza would always say the same 1 of 2 things when I came into a game. It usually was a crucial point in the game, men on base, close score, and a power hitter up to bat.

I would always ask him, ‘Okay, Mike, how we going after this guy?”

His response…

A) ‘Let me think about it on the walk back’ or

B) ‘Just go after him with your good shit!’

I always wanted to say, ‘No, I’ll just half-ass this one and see what happens!’ But never did!


Coming Tuesday: Turk Wendell’s serious side.

Dodger Carl Erskine Honors Fans Daily

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Pitch-perfect penmanship,
even in his 80s!

Where have all the Carl Erskines gone?

I don’t mean fellow Brooklyn Dodgers. I mean baseball AMBASSADORS. Retired? I don’t think so. Every day of the year, he’s honoring and thanking fans and collectors.

I asked “Oisk” about his feelings about autographs. Here’s his inspiring reply:

“I usually receive eight or ten letters on the average each day. I try to answer right away, because when I can’t, they pile up.


I do them all myself and read each one. I consider fans the backbone of the game — and I consider signing an extension of my career.”

Who writes? What do they say in their letters?

“When I read these requests, they range from fans who saw us play, young fans who have read about us, men in prison writing for their own kids — birthdays, anniversaries, etc.


I just can’t throw these requests away.”

How can we thank this Dodger hero?

“I was once interviewed by Baseball Collectors Digest. I said I don’t charge for signing, but ask they [collectors] help Special Olympics if they/you can. Now, I often get 5 dollars, a check for $10 to $25 to help our local Special Olympics.”

Erskine closed with a message to other major leaguers, past and present:

“I’m bothered by players who, or their agents, restrict their signing to make their autograph more valuable.

That’s an insult to the fan base that made their autograph sought after.

Carl Erskine”


Coming Monday: What did catcher Mike Piazza tell Turk Wendell when he went to the mound?