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Baseball Player Passings

The missing chapter of Darryl Hamilton?

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(Courtesy of Rich Hanson)
(Courtesy of Rich Hanson)

Most fans know how Darryl Hamilton died.

Whether he signed an autograph for you or not, add a memory to your collection.

Remember how he lived with this moving obituary. I spotted this jewel from a fellow member of the Facebook Group Baseball Player Passings.

Lastly, don’t wait to send those letters. Tomorrow is not guaranteed for any of us.

 

Baseball Player Passings Hits Milestone

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I first wrote about the Facebook group Baseball Player Passings in 2010.

I applaud founder Dave Lambert and the moderators. The group has surpassed 1,000 members.
I’m grateful to know who NOT to write to. Furthermore, it’s good to see that everyone matters. Even a one-week wonder is remembered with an obituary. A story of their life (noting that baseball was only one chapter).
Lastly, I love any group that reminds us that baseball isn’t about the statistics. It’s about the stories.
The people!

66 Baseball Deaths in 2013

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Found at www.bglewandowski.com
the comedian asked why the Grim Reaper
got a seat behind home plate at
the 2009 All-Star game. B.G.and
photog Brian Gerard got me looking,
laughing and THINKING. Bravo!
 

Anyone who depends on Harvey Meiselman’s 2013 Baseball Address List appreciates his attention to detail. In his just-e-mailed September update, he has a ton of updated addresses.

In other news, he’s updating the list to reflect deceased names. So far, we’ve lost 65 names. Add in all the alums from the WWII-era All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and the task becomes even more clear.

The window of opportunity is closing.

Don’t vow to send a ton of letters later. Send ONE tomorrow. Small daily or weekly goals usually outdistance a marathon mailing.

As I worked on this post, I saw on the great Baseball Player Passings Facebook group list that Larry Doby Johnson’s May death wasn’t made public by his family until now. Johnson played in only a handful of games from 1972-78.

It’s not just 1940s veterans. Former players of all ages are on the list.

Try the names on your want list now. How many extra innings will they have?

Bill Kearns Collects Maine-ly Players

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“The Original One” is a
unique subset in Bill’s collection!
 
Bill Kearns is a great online ally. He provides early-breaking news on deaths for the Baseball Player Passings site on Facebook. He’s mentioned which deceased players signed for him. I wanted to know more about his unique hobby background. I’m grateful he’s provided this e-interview.
 
Q: Do you remember who (and when) your first TTM autograph came?
 
 
A: Yes it was George Bamberger. He has since died, so he gets added to that list.
We started this hobby about 11 years ago and we had about 50 baseball cards to our name. That card of Mr. Bamberger was given to us by a friend (along with about 70,000 others) and we have still beeen feeding from that large collection ever sense. But it recent years we have graduated to making photos (those that you see in BP are actually a 4×6 photo, made to make like a baseball card.)
 
 
Q: Tell me about the Maine players collection, please!
Great set…Maine certainly is not a hotbed for baseball stars but we seek them out. There are 19 living ML’ers from Maine and we have them all. The saddest is of Dan Walters, as we learned, became a San Diego police detective and was shot an paralyzed while off duty, told to us by his mother who gave us a signed card. Tought way to learn of such a tragedy.
We have many minor leaguers too. They are harder to find but keep searching
 

Q: What’s a typical letter like for you? Typed or handwritten? What do you ask to get signed? Ever ask specific questions?
A: We do so many its a standard letter, with areas to change player info, both signed by us. Son Jon will write occasional on the “real important ones” and used to write many as part of his “homework” as a youngster.

 Q: What kind of notes or letters have you gotten back?
A: We get lots of notes and letters back. We keep all of them. It kinda authenticates them. We have a pen pal Frank “The Original One” Thomas and we must have 300 multi page letters from him

Q: I saw the breaking news about Pascual Perez. Some collectors might ask, why pay attention to obituaries? It’s too late for an autograph!
A: Yes, put its good to know and often will brink back memories and perhaps that is baseball’s best quality. LIke when I read that Bob “Hawk” Taylor died this past June, I had to go for a long walk. He was my 1st baseball hero, I was about 6-7…and yah, it hurt.

Q: What advice do you have for setting hobby goals or collection types?
A: I tell all younger collectors that I know and have known, have fun, go with players that inspire you but try to do the hobby in “set” or “subsets”. For example, if you like the Red Sox, have a set of Red Sox that you can continue to work on. Like the Maine born players, players born your birthday, players that share your name, school or even subsets of players that achived a rare event…like home run 1st at bat, or even better, player 1st pitch home run…it brings in the reserch realm.

Q: How are you keeping up on addresses and other autograph news?
Many sources, addy books, on line ask friends ask players

Q: Guys who scribble their “names.” Guys who charge, or never respond. Lots of people have lists of what’s wrong with this hobby. What’s RIGHT about this hobby right now?
A: It is fun and challenging. We do alot of the older players because, they are better signers. And it brings the history factor. We go to alot of Portland SeaDogs games and hound the RedSox prospects and the in-coming teams. This past summer we got about 1,000 autographs of the SD’s (overkill) not at all because we “gift” many of them to friends in the hobby instead of trading.

Q: What’s your hobby game plan for 2013?
A: Love the old guys love the Sea Dogs…adding more autographs to sons and friends “baseball scrapbooks”. Imagine a scrapbook of autographs chalk full of players that share your name, birthday, Maine born and much more….
 

Coming Monday: News from Virgil Trucks

Offering a Memorial Day Salute To ‘Baseball Player Passings’ Facebook Page

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Back in 2010, I saluted Facebook’s “Baseball Player Passings” page. Dave Lambert shared the story of the site’s unique origin.

The site thrives. Before any obituary surfaced ANYWHERE online, one of the 500-plus members posted word that Kevin Hickey had died.

Small wonder. I see that 14 administrators collaborate to keep the news flowing.

Members seek out gravesites of deceased baseball names. Obituaries are posted.

Want to be part of an all-star team? members of BPP include former baseball players, the media — names that would produce double-takes from the most jaded collectors.

Two things inspire me most about Baseball Player Passings:

1. Baseball history isn’t limited to a few superstars. Recent obituaries posted included Lil (Mrs. Stan) Musial and John Kuenster, former editor of Baseball Digest. I’ve seen obits on many “girl’s leaguers,” the pioneering women of the AAGPBL. As I look to write to other baseball history makers, it helps me to dig deeper.

2. Each new entry on the page reinforces a simple message for me:

HURRY UP!

Retired players dying in their 50s? This isn’t a hobby for procrastinators.

Check out the Facebook page. Join. Enjoy the memorials. I hope you’ll be posting about how you received a nice letter from a recently-deceased retiree…while there was still time.
Coming Wednesday: An elusive autograph and MORE from Masanori Murakami.