Header - Baseball by the Letters

The Lessons of Minnesota’s Paul Giel

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Let me start with the end of Paul Giel’s 200 reply:

P.S. – For a guy from Iowa, you did well to marry a girl from Redwood Falls!

When I wrote to him, I told him I was contacting Minnesota-born players. Adding a WHY in your letter gives you an edge on the other “Dear —, Please sign this…” form letters. Don’t lie, but use any detail in your own history that might make your letter stand out.

Secondly, expect the unexpected.

I received a 9-by-12 envelope from the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. I was ready to recycle this unopened. I would have missed the surprise — one autographed 8-by-10 of Giel as a Gopher gridiron star battling Southern California in 1953.

Lastly, I should add my theory about Giel altering his baseball job history, failing to mention the one horrid final game he pitched for the 1961 Athletics.

I think he WISHED he had retired. I think he WISHED he had remained a Twin.

He didn’t log even one whole season with the Twins. But he remains a Minnesotan forever.

Paul Giel: Mystery in Minnesota

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Paul Giel remains a University of Minnesota legend. He earned All-America status in football and baseball, but capped an illustrious gridiron career with Heisman Trophy runner-up honors.

Giel shunned a three-year Canadian Football League contract and the Chicago Bears in favor of baseball. A bidding war ended with a then-record $60,000 signing bonus from the New York Giants. He wrote to me in 2000.

“I chose professional baseball because I had a great (by those days’ stands) offer from the New York Giants. Talk about luck! The Giants won the National League Peannant and beat Cleveland in the World Series.

I was with the Minnesota Twins for a few months in 1961 when the Washington Senators moved to the Twin Cities. I only pitched in a few games in relief and did nothing worth noting. I retired from baseball when they wanted to trade me to Kansas City.”

Giel’s career summation is worth noting. Despite his claim that he didn’t join Kansas City, Giel pitched one game for the Athletics. After giving up seven earned runs in 1.2 innings, he ended his career.

Giel died in 2002 at age 70. He was commemorated by the New York Times, a paper that remembered his “bonus baby” status with the local Giants.

Tomorrow: two important lessons Paul Giel taught this autograph collector.

Roy Face, Father of the Forkball

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Fans who rave about Bruce Sutter and the last generation of split-fingered fastball artists can’t impress old-school Pirates fans. Followers of the Bucs in the 1950s and 60s are sure they saw it all before, in the likes of Elroy Face.

Signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1949, Face was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950. On Dec. 1, 1952, he was chosen in the Rule 5 draft by the Pirates. Pittsburgh used him in 41 games the next season. His classic career highlights included 193 saves, three All-Star appearances and “NL Fireman of the Year” honors from The Sporting News in 1962.

Face remembered that special pitch and more in a kind reply:

“In 1954, I was in New Orleans to work on an off-speed pitch to go with my fastball and curve. I worked on it about the first half of the season, and started using it in games. It helped me make it back to the major leagues.”

About his 848 career games pitched, he wrote:

“I don’t have any idea of how many pitches I threw in the bullpen. In 1961 and 1962, Jack Hernon, a writer, kept track of the times I either pitched in games or warmed up. He said it was somewhere between 110-115 times each year.”

How dominating was Face in 1959? Try an 18-1 record. He hasn’t forgotten that one imperfection that year:

“What I remember of my one loss in 1959, was to the Dodgers. Charlie Neal got a broken-bat dribbler through the left side of the infield, between Don Hoak at third and Dick Groat at shortstop. That broke my 22 straight winning streak.”

The all-star resource www.retrosheet.org uncovered details of Face’s single loss here.

Ken McMullen’s Personal Touch

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Poor Ken McMullen.

After replying to an autograph request that included personalizing a card, McMullen suffered the recent wrath of a collector on a hobby website.

The post claimed that McMullen added “To —” only as a defense. He wanted to devalue the autograph on ebay, asserted the collector. The cynical attempt at humor followed, speculating on whether McMullen really thinks his autograph would be that valuable and in demand?

Here’s a wild idea:

The veteran third baseman believed the letter he received. In turn, he truly cared about the “fan” writing. McMullen wanted to prove his gratitude and show that he read the letter by inscribing the card.

Could be!

An autograph is an autograph. Yes, someday at an estate sale, buyers may moan, “All these autographs are TO TOM.” That’s because each signature tells three stories: the player’s, my own and the time we communicated. I’m not collecting future commodities for resale. I’m collecting memories NOW.

Pitcher Jack Spring: Still a Gamer

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Jack Spring is still in the game.

Thanks to collector Steve Smith of Fall River, Nova Scotia. He posted on the ever-handy www.sportscollectors.net that he had received two autographed cards from Jack Spring. Additionally, Mr. Spring provided a note saying why he couldn’t answer questions by mail.

It’s hard not to be a cynical collector these days. Upon seeing the posting by Steve, I thought of many reasons why Jack Spring was impatient with collectors.

Through sportscollectors.net, subscribers can send personal messages to collectors who’ve posted a success or failure. That meant I could find out the truth.

Steve forwarded the explanation that Mr. Spring is coping with Parkinson’s Disease, making writing answers difficult.

Nevertheless, the former pitcher isn’t letting autograph requests go unanswered completely. Even a signature may be getting difficult. That’s not stopping the stopper.

(One of Spring’s untold stories must surround June, 1964. Today’s sportswriters goof in claiming that the Cubs and Cardinals staged the swap of pitcher Ernie Broglio for Lou Brock. In a 6-player deal, the Cubs sent Spring and fellow moundsman Paul Toth to round out the deal.)

The moral? Appreciate every autograph. Treasure every extra. Some signers are taking extra efforts to give back to the game and its fans.