Posted By:
Stephen MitchellTom Hufford
(Login tomboy13) Not so much my heroes, but great memories anyway March 9 2009, 9:02 PM wrote:
I've met several hundred players over the years, but a couple of experiences stand out.
I made my first trip to Cooperstown in 1971, for the induction ceremony and for the Founding Meeting of SABR. Someone told me the place to go was the Otesago Hotel, where the players stayed. So I went over there and found a chair in the lobby - there is absolutely no way you could do that now! An old fellow walked by, and someway I figured out it was Rube Marquard, there for his HOF induction. I asked him if he would sign my copy of "Glory of Their Times," and he said he would be glad to, if he could sit down first. So, he sat down, signed my book, and then we chatted for a while. Then he said "Do you mind sitting here for a few minutes? I'll go up to my room and get something to show you." Of course, I said yes.
After a few minutes, Marquard came back with a large scrapbook that he (or someone in the family?) had kept during his career. He sat down and went through every page of that scrapbook with me, it must have taken a couple of hours. I sure wish now that I had had a tape recorder! When I got home, I wrote Marquard and thanked him, and we exchanged Holiday cards for several years after that. I've always wondered what happened to that scrapbook.
I also met Harry Hooper, Zach Wheat, Larry Gardner, Ernie Shore, Bullet Joe Bush, and several other oldtimers on that trip.
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Comment: Tom's fond recollection of a couple of hours with Rube Marquard at Cooperstown in 1971 reminded me of my meeting him in '75 - also Induction Weekend. There he was (literally) waltzing the ballroom in his pink suit!
That weekend a few of us had the opportunity to also speak with a couple of opinionated fellows: Bill Terry and Edd Roush. I'm sure "Big Edd" had been asked questions about the 1919 World Series a million times before, but his animation showed no dimming of enthusiasm with the passage of time.
Steve Mitchell