REV. FR. RICHARD A. KIELBASA (RIP)- Cleveland Baseball Federation
 

Today I was sent an obituary message of one of the players on a "card" in my collection. This is a nice cause and interesting story of a vintage player, so I thought I would share. It seems the Cleveland Baseball Federation does some very nice work. I don't know about ya'll but I like to see good and worthwhile baseball as opposed to some other things we see nowadays. Nothing too spectacular here, but to me, it's interesting. And when was the last time you saw fingerprints on a card? :) (ok, I might have seen a couple, but not many)

"This year will mark 102 years that the Cleveland Baseball Federation (CBF), an independent non-profit organization has successfully assisted the City of Cleveland’s Recreation Department in the administration of its entire sandlot program.

Without CBF, free of charge recreational youth baseball/softball would not exist in the city of Cleveland.

Unlike other agencies, all of our programs are “free of charge” to any child and young adult living in Cleveland and East Cleveland, Ohio. Playing organized sports aids in the development of responsibility, community, and perseverance. In addition it provides a necessary respite from the every day stresses of every day life.

In 2006, Cleveland Indians Charities (CIC) selected CBF as their exclusive partner to operate a free-of-charge youth baseball and softball league serving the Cities of Cleveland and East Cleveland. Under this agreement, CBF also operates Major League Baseball’s Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities (RBI) program. The purpose of the RBI program is to provide youth with a positive team-oriented activity that keeps its participants off the streets and challenges them both academically and physically."

http://www.cbfkids.org/


And may Rev.FR. Richard Kielbasa rest in peace.
http://obits.cleveland.com/obituarie...73#fbLoggedOut



http://luckeycards.com/phunc1947clev...rationcard.jpg

When I first saw the title of the thread I thought it was one of those Nigerian inheritance email scams.

Kielbasa?
 

I had that for dinner last night.

Leon, There must be an interesting story behind where you got the card and how the you got the obit.

Nah, not really. As everyone knows I collect very eclectic and obscure stuff. A nice board member sent this message via email today-

"I was doing a google search for something and stumbled upon your card reference above. The name “Richard Kielbasa” seemed like it might be a joke (Cleveland has a large Polish population) and I was curious to see if that person really existed. As it turns out, your card appears to be associated with the person in this 2012 obituary below. I thought you might want it for reference purposes."

I looked into the story behind the League and saw it was a nice feel-good baseball story, with vintage tint being my card. As we hear of so much pooh pooh (and my own disdain for current Pro sports) I just thought it would be a good story to post about. I doubt most members have seen that Cleveland Federation League Contract card, so to me, it makes the thread interesting. Slow news day :).

Did I read that obituary right, in seeing that his brothers Hank and Casey each apparently shortened their names to "Kiel"?

Card
 

I know this is an old thread, but would you be interested in selling that card?

I think it was sold with my first collection, last year, or shortly afterwards.