Leaving a piece of me in Cincinnati
By John Ring
It isnÕt often you get a personal, up-front tour of
a Hall of Fame. But thatÕs what I was fortunate enough to receive last Friday
night in Cincinnati.
When the Reds built Great American Ballpark, plans
called for a separate, stand alone facility to be constructed just east of the
new stadium— a Hall of Fame and Museum for the Reds.
The fact that there are so few in the major leagues
is hard to believe as it is, especially when you consider the rich history of
several baseball teams in our neck of the woods, such as the Cardinals, Cubs
and White Sox.
ÒWeÕve had several teams send representatives to
tour our Hall of Fame,Ó said Museum Director Greg Rhodes. ÒThe biggest problem
they are facing is the lack of space, especially with the older baseball parks.
ThereÕs one at the new baseball park for the Texas Rangers but itÕs more about
baseball in general than about the Rangers.Ó
That isnÕt a problem in Cincinnati. BaseballÕs
oldest franchise (1869) has a spacious, three-story Hall with interacting
exhibits, videos, a gift shop and tributes to some of the great teams in their
history.
If you walk up the three flights of stairs, youÕll
see 4,256 baseballs stacked up— one for each of Pete RoseÕs hits. There
are statues of the Great Eight— the eight lineup players of the Big Red
Machine, considered one of the best baseball teams of all time. ThereÕs a
replica dugout constructed with statues of Sparky Anderson leaning over the rail
and Pat Moran sitting down and the organ used at Crosley, with actual taped
music.
ItÕs a dream job for Rhodes. Last month, he got a call from Buddy LaRosa,
a Cincinnati pizza king. ÒHe had
purchased a trunk at an auction years after Crosley Field closed,Ó said Rhodes
about the ballpark the Reds used until 1970. ÒHe went through it and found the
pennant banner of the 1940 team. It must have been put in there by accident
because we could never locate it.Ó That banner now hangs in the front foyer of
the Hall.
Rhodes also found a lot of memorabilia before
Riverfront Stadium was demolished a few years ago. Aside from a large group of
stray cats that had inhabited the doomed, empty structure, Rhodes found banners, seats from Crosley Field and other things.
The Reds honor their own inducted Hall of Famers in
a special section of the building and also have exhibits that pay tribute to
Crosley Field, the first professional baseball team of 1869, the ÒRagamuffinÓ
Reds of 1961 that won the National League pennant, the World Series Champions
of 1990 that had The Nasty Boys (Norm Charlton, Randy Myers and Rob Dibble) and
thereÕs even a bat that Babe Ruth used to club his then record-setting 52nd
home run during the 1921 season.
ÒThatÕs on loan,Ó said Rhodes. ÒAfter this, itÕs
going to New York City and will be auctioned off. ItÕll probably be sold for
around $250,000.Ó
A former Reds pitcher, Silas Johnson, was the last
hurler to strike out Ruth during the 1935 season. The Zephyr did an article on Johnson
in our April 4, 1991 issue, two years before he passed away.
ÒHe was a hard-luck pitcher,Ó said Rhodes, who had
talked to Johnson. ÒHe was a hard thrower who pitched for some bad teams.Ó
ÒSend me a copy of that issue,Ó added Rhodes. ÒThe
most interesting thing about working with baseball history is getting things
sent to you from different places in the country. I got a call from a guy in
New Mexico who has some Reds memorabilia and would like to send it our way.Ó
ÒReds players from the past come in here all the
time. Lee May visits here. Tony Perez. They love the place. We want to make
them feel welcome because of what theyÕve done in the past for the Cincinnati
Reds.Ó
So how did a piece of me get into the Reds Hall of
Fame?
In June, a Cincinnati architect built a replica of
Croslery Field in his basement. He was painstaking in the details he used to
recreate it. It took years to do and was patterned after the last game to be
played at Crosley on June 24, 1970 when the Reds defeated the Giants by a score
of 5-4 on back to back home runs by Tony Perez and Lee May.
I read about it in the Cincinnati Enquirer on-line. And sitting in
the very room with me was an autographed baseball by the nine Reds who were on
the field that night in the 9th inning.
It was a project I undertook in the summer of 1989.
Using a Baseball Address Book as a guide and knowing where those former players
were led to being able to getting their signatures on the ball.
Lee May, Tommy Helms and Tony Perez were all Reds
coaches then. They were easy to get. So was Johnny Bench.
Using the Address Book, I found Daryl Chaney, Jimmy
Stewart and Wayne Granger.
I got Pete RoseÕs autograph on the ball at a card
show. The $10 fee was the largest single financial aspect of the venture. (It
eventually cost a total of $26.50, counting postage and handling, the cost of
the ball itself and RoseÕs fee.)
When Rose autographed it, he asked what was the
significance of the ball. He then asked, ÔWhatÕs Chaney doing?Ó ÒWhereÕs
Stewart at?Ó ÒWhat about Tolan?Ó
(My reply was, ÔI donÕt know, Georgia and I was hoping you could tell me.Õ)
The last two signatures I got were Wayne Granger
and Bobby Tolan. I had no idea where Tolan was. But Granger wrote back that
Tolan was a coach in the Baltimore Oriole organization. Sure enough, he was. I
wrote Tolan a letter, enclosed with an index card where he could checkoff if he
would sign the ball or not. I wasnÕt sending that baseball until I knew for
sure.
Tolan had a distinctive signature. His ÔTÕ looked
like a 7. He replied that he would sign the ball and off it went.
I mailed him the ball, got it back a week later and
the signature looked genuine.
I was offered $500 for the ball seven years ago by
a card dealer, which means itÕs probably worth three times that much to the
right person. But I didnÕt do this for money, which is why I donated it to the
Reds Hall of Fame.
TheyÕre going to mount the ball by a large photo of
Crosley Field, taken during the 9th inning of that final game, when Granger was
getting ready to pitch to Bobby Bonds. Tito Fuentes was on deck. Bonds made the
final out.
Greg Rhodes and his staff were more than fair to
me. My name will be on a plaque of donors to the Hall. I get some perks, like a
membership, free passes, free tickets, merchandise from the Hall gift shop. I
signed off on the paperwork and the ball now belongs to the Reds Hall of Fame.
It will be there forever.
Some may think IÕm nuts for not selling it. But itÕs
not about the money.
That Crosley Field ball is in a better place now.
ItÕs where it should be. And no matter what, a little piece of me is in a
baseball Hall of Fame.
It doesnÕt get much better than that.
8/13/05