Header - Baseball by the Letters

Bobby Hoeft

Ex-Tiger J.W. Porter’s Writing Helps Preserve ‘When Baseball Was Fun’

by
Porter’s continued signing by mail makes me smile.
He values legibility, too!

Bobby Hoeft could have managed in the majors.

I’ve written about this Detroit Tigers super-fan before. His newsletter, When Baseball Was Fun, is a quarterly delight.

Part of the joy in each issue is that he coaxes classic insights out of names that autograph collectors adore:

Virgil Trucks
J.W. Porter

Both men are autographing dynamos. Each TTM reply seems more like a lottery jackpot than a mere signature. They go above and beyond in pleasing collectors. For Bobby, they write columns!

In the latest issue, Porter writes about memories of his 1955 rookie season with Detroit, contrasted by today’s minimum salary for major leaguers being increased to $475,000. He concludes:

“For $475,0000 a year, I would warm up pitchers until my hands beld and sign autographs until the cows came home.

I would even learn to write my name so it could be read clearly.”

Just a joke, folks. Try Porter by mail. His pristine penmanship would make him a role model for any current player.

Try the WBWF newsletter. Bobby makes baseball, and reading, fun!

Coming Wednesday: Want to know the “Thrill” in Will Clark? Ask Roger “Super RC” Chen!

Surprise Virgil Trucks On His 95th!

by
Let’s surprise ‘Fire’ on April 26
with OUR autographs!

Thanks to friend Kohei Nirengi, who shared this e-mail alert.

ON APRIL 26 VIRGIL TRUCKS, THE TIGERS OLDEST FORMER PLAYER WILL CELEBRATE HIS  95TH BIRTHDAY !!!
                                                      *************
A BIRTHDAY PARTY  WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE HOME OF HIS DAUGHTER.

SHE HAS REQUESTED THAT THOSE WHO WANT TO SEND VIRGIL A BIRTHDAY CARD PLEASE SEND IT TO HER HOME AND NOT TO VIRGIL’S ADDRESS. SHE IS PLANNING HIS BIRTHDAY AS A SURPRISE AND WILL ARRANGE ALL CARDS IN A SPECIAL HONOR TO HIM.  

HER ADDRESS IS:
                        MS. CAROLYN TRUCKS BECKWITH,
                        55  SALSER LANE
                        COLUMBIANA,  ALABAMA   35051

GO TIGERS,   bobby hoeft, founder & publisher of  WBWF

Past blog posts have saluted Bobby and his one-of-a-kind newsletter, When Baseball Was Fun. Bobby has an all-star plan here.

Please, do NOT send  to Virgil at HIS address. Help his daughter stage a special SURPRISE tribute to this super-signer and best friend to the hobby.

Coming Wednesday: Yogi Berra and Ron Guidry autographing details!

‘When Baseball Was Fun’ Newsletter: Subscribing Shows Your True Detroit Tiger Stripes!

by
Bobby’s newsletter
AND
book are worthwhile!

I just got the spring issue of the newsletter When Baseball Was Fun in the U.S. Mail today.

First-person stories by J.W. Porter and Virgil Trucks, regular contributors, highlight this fun issue. Trucks tells of being interviewed by two FBI agents. You won’t find these gems anywhere else.

I wrote about newsletter founder/editor/publisher Bobby Hoeft last fall.

If you didn’t believe me then, get Bobby’s latest issue as proof. I’ve yet to meet somebody who loves the Tigers more.

In fact, you’d faint to get the published list of former Tigers who are lifetime subscribers. I think all ex-Tigers know of this publication! Bobby’s offering the same deal to us mortal fans. A LIFETIME subscription (4 issues yearly) for $20.

This subscription is a badge of honor. When you’d write to someone like Porter and Trucks, telling them you subscribe, they’d know you speak their language. You speak Tiger.

To subscribe or get more information, write Bobby at wbwf@sbcglobal.net.

Coming Wednesday: The shady alternative to collecting…kids, don’t try this at home!

Another vote for hand-written letters?

by

In the heat of presidential primary season, a vote may have been cast for tradition.

I’ve enjoyed the epic story of Tigers minor leaguer Bobby Hoeft. His book and his Detroit Tigers quarterly newsletter would delight any fan.

One off-hand comment of his caught my eye. Bobby keeps creating “hard” copies of his newsletter, not just posting news online. I realize that he has dozens of former Tigers as subscribers. He mentioned that most aren’t computer users.

“Oh yes — regarding seniors with no computers…I speak for myself when I say it took me up to 2007 before I took them on…To some extent, just give a retired baseball star another pain in the ass…I admit it was only because of my intense typing etc that I was talked into it…but guys like Virgil Trucks, J.W. Porter, Frank Tanana and on and on view it with, “At my age why take on this new technology…I’m happy with my life just the way it is.”

Bobby’s comment sent me thinking. Kohei Nirengi mentioned about Japanese tradition favoring hand-written letters. I maintain that forcing any age person to study my handwriting is cruel and unusual punishment.

Nonetheless, are some elderly ex-players frowning at our computer printout letters, skeptical at how little personal effort went into the correspondence? Do these cyber-shy folk think our magic boxes have cranked out well-disguised, robotic form letters?

When possible, I add a hand-written P.S. That way, the potential signer knows I’ve tried…and that I’ve spared him the pain of a whole page of my scribbles!

Coming Thursday: Tom’s “10 Most Wanted List” — a Hot Stove League edition!

Bobby Hoeft’s Still Preaching For Ernie Harwell

by
On My Bookshelf!

Bobby Hoeft knows his Tigers. And how can a true fan and historian know the team without knowing legendary broadcaster Ernie Harwell? Bobby amazed me with his response!

Q: What was your relationship with ERNIE HARWELL like?

A: “I was the Pastor of St. Paul’s  Lutheran Church in Farmington Hills, Michigan, in 1977, when I received a phone call from “Waddy” Spoelstra, a sports writer for a Detroit newspaper and the founder of the MLB Chapel Program.  He was inviting me to lead the Tigers in their Chapel Hour on a Sunday in August…it took me one millionth of a second to say yes.

The Angels were in town so I still brag about being the only Pastor to actually preach to Angels.  On top of this humor I actually met an Angel! There stood Ernie Harwell with Waddy Spoelstra outside of the office door leading into Tiger Stadium.  They were waiting for me and my young son, Bobby II.

They expected me to lead Chapel with Ernie Harwell standing right along side of me!  They forgot that I was still a mere human being. The only way that I made it through leading Nolan Ryan and his crew and then Ralph Houk’s boys was to just let the Holy Spirit do His job!  These Tigers led by Rusty Staub and Ron Leflore were impressed and so was Ernie & me….that Spirit does good work!

That Ernie Harwell is full  of surprises.  Once on a Sunday afternoon I was enjoying a Tiger game on TV when my wife answered the phone.  She answered and then stood there like a house by the side of the road stammering: ‘It’s Ernie Harwell.’  And sure enough it was!  All at once it dawned on me.  How can he be calling me right in the middle of a ball game that he’s announcing?  So, I asked him.  His answer was simple.  ‘I make these call during the innings that Paul (Carey) is announcing the game.’
 
Then in 2003 he agreed to writing columns for the WBWF…Not only did he agree to do that he also said the following words of wisdom: ‘Anybody that loves the Tigers will also love WBWF!’

And his calls kept coming until May 4, 2010.  That’s the day that Ernie became a real ANGEL”

Coming Monday: Bobby Hoeft shares a game plan for collectors.