O/T Andy Pafko Dies

[cyseymour]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/sp...tml?ref=sports

They do mention his famed baseball card at the bottom, but fail to mention that the card was so valuable because it was #1 in the set. I had never realized he was such a good player - five-time All-Star is pretty impressive.

[the 'stache]

It's a sad day for Wisconsin sports fans. Andy remained very popular there many years after he retired. I must admit that I, too, am surprised at how good his numbers were earlier in his career. I knew what he did as a Brave, but the 30 home run seasons are a revelation.

RIP Andy. Thank you for helping the Braves bring home Milwaukee's only World Series win.

[T206Collector]

"Pafko at the wall...."


And a good book about that day....

http://www.amazon.com/Pafko-at-Wall-...ko+at+the+wall

[kmac32]

Met Pafko at a mall signing in Galesburg Illinois in the early 90's. A real gentleman in my opinion. Ended up getting a signed picture and he also signed the ticket for the autograph line.

[39special]

A few years back,he was a great signer through the mail.Somewhere I have a card and a great letter signed by him.....RIP Andy!!

[kmac32]

And another one

[xcgrammer]

One of the great photos in baseball history. Pafko at the Wall. I agree also a great book. However the book Miracle Ball about the search for the shot heard round the world is one of my favorite baseball books just awesome. Solves the mystery of what happened to the ball.

[GoldenAge50s]

A real gentleman! I got his autograph back in the late '80's when I used to set up @ Walter Hall's shows in NE --all dealers got a free one!

Here are a few of my other Pafko cards along w/ the auto.

[RGold]

[ethicsprof]

my condolences to family and fans.
with sympathy,
barry

[Sean]

He signed a jersey for me in 2002. I asked him to add "Gentlemen, we have just traded for the pennant". He actually laughed, and then wrote the inscription.

[jlehma13]

Had the chance to meet him at the first inter-league cubs/brewers game. A gentleman for sure.

[dacubfan]

Met Andy at the Cubs Convention a few years back. A real gentleman. I believe Lennie Merullo who is 96 y.o. is now the only surviving member of the Cubs 1945 NL championship team.

[leaflover]

Sorry to hear of Mr. Pafko's passing. He was one of my favorites. From the PCL LA Angels, to the Cubs, Dodgers and Braves. May he RIP.

[toppcat]

I always thought he was a class act and certainly he had one of the stronger profiles in The Boys of Summer. A far better ballplayer, as noted above, than a lot of people realize. RIP.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by T206Collector

"Pafko at the wall...."


And a good book about that day....

http://www.amazon.com/Pafko-at-Wall-...ko+at+the+wall

It was actually published earlier as first segment in DeLillo's great American Masterpiece, Underworld.

The opening line -- referring to the kid from Harlem who in the book ends up with the ball: He speaks in your voice, American, and there's a shine in his eye that's halfway hopeful.

[joeadcock]

Originally Posted by ethicsprof

my condolences to family and fans.
with sympathy,
barry

Agreed.
God with the family.

[whitehse]

I was saddened to hear of Andy's passing a few days ago. I had the opportunity to meet and work with him a number of times when I brought him to four of my mall card shows in the '90's. He was a prince of a man and we stayed in contact for a number of years after that, exchanging letters and phone calls on occasion.

I remember at one of the shows a twenty-something brought in a decent 1952 Topps #1 for him to sign. There was a great deal of discussion over this card and Andy stared at it for several minutes and tried to talk the customer out of having him sign it. Most in the crowd didn't want to see it get signed but despite Andy's protest the man was adamant about getting the card autographed. Andy shook his head and put Sharpie to the card and you could hear an audible gasp as those around couldn't believe he would actually sign the card.

At the same show I paired him up with Chicago area favorite Billy Pierce. It was a huge thrill to sit between these two and hear the stories that they were telling back and forth. For some reason I didn't realize that these two played on opposite teams in the last World Series played at Wrigley Field. I had forgotten that Mr. Pierce had started his career with the Tigers and certainly rubbed it into Mr. Pafko that he was on the winning team for that series.

Baseball is going to miss that man.

[doug.goodman]

Thank you Andy

[ShoelessCrusader]

One of the best baseball books ever written: The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn. I remember reading the Pafko chapter and he was kind of surprised that Roger Kahn included him in his book since he only played with the Brooklyn Dodgers for a short period of time...interesting stuff. RIP Mr. Pafko.

Carl Erskine: you and George Shuba are the last living members of the Boys of Summer now.

[tjb1952tjb]

RIP Andy.....a class act: