Header - Baseball by the Letters

Month: May 2015

Take notes, Mitch Williams! Hall of Famer Johnny Mize dissed Lenny Dykstra first

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Is that from sliding, Len, or from attending another event with Mitch Williams?
Is that from sliding, Len, or from attending another event with Mitch Williams?

Go, Mitch Williams!

These verbal smackdowns versus Lenny Dykstra give me hope the former pitcher might loosen up this year on FOX Game of the Week. 

I don’t think Williams is the first to tee off on Dykstra. I wrote years ago about spending an afternoon with Hall of Famer Johnny Mize at an autograph show. 

He was peeved at Dykstra’s behavior toward fans when they headlined the same event.

I’ll never forget “The Big Cat” launching a one-sentence dismissal, putting the hammer to “Nails.”

For those of you who missed it the first time, enjoy Mize at his best here:

Bret Saberhagen invokes Close Encounters of the Third Kind

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saberhagen
He’s listening!

“We are not alone.”

That’s one of the moments I remember most from that 1977 movie.

Then, on Facebook, I checked out the latest news from the always-impressive Baseball Autographs group.

A moderator welcomed new member Bret Saberhagen. Yes, THAT Bret.

I checked the number of former players who are a part of that group. WOW!

Suddenly, those movie words made more sense.

It’s so inspiring that former players want to learn more about the hobby. It’s nice they can see REAL collectors showing how autographs and correspondence matter to them.

However, baseball retirees online get to see it all, even the snarky slams about a player’s career (as if we could have done better?). Hobbyists who take shots at someone’s autographing tendencies should be prepared for fallout.

Sure, tell the truth. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. Just know that starting an online debate with the signing source could wind up putting the entire hobby on the losing side.

An open letter to the Baltimore Orioles

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A hobby hero? By Keith Allison on Flickr (Originally posted to Flickr as "Caleb Joseph") [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
A hobby hero? By Keith Allison on Flickr (Originally posted to Flickr as “Caleb Joseph”) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Dear Orioles:

Your team has been through a lot this year. Your city, too!

Here’s just a friendly reminder of an opportunity you might be missing:

Caleb Joseph

The viral video shows the catcher signing imaginary autographs at that infamous game.

I’ve been looking for the media to follow up all week. Give the slow-moving journalists a hand.

Show the whole team signing real autographs for real fans.

Encourage your catcher to say why autographs matter.

Have him tell the world why fans matter.