1949 bowman richie ashburn

[tedzan]

I've met Richie Ashburn twice at BB card shows in the early 1990's. A real classy guy, he would talk BB trivia with you for hours (if he had the time).
One of several bits of trivia that I asked him...." were you the fastest runner to 1st base ? " [especially when he layed down a drag bunt (as shown
in this photo)].
Richie told me...."year after year the sportswriters would time Mickey Mantle (batting lefty) and I running to 1st base. Everytime it was 3.0 seconds.
Richie was one of the best lead-off BB players in the game.





TED Z

[39special]

Ashburn was a great person and very popular among Phillies fans,as was mentioned.I got to meet him in the early '80's,when the Phillies Caravan
came to Reading.Great story teller! At the local shows I go to,all of his cards bring a good price.

[Bored5000]

One of my favorite hobbies when I was a kid was writing to retired athletes for autographs. I had a book that listed addresses for thousands of ex players. I wrote to Ashburn twice in care of the Phillies and he sent me an autographed postcard each time.

I probably had about 200 successes overall before I outgrew the hobby. The stories the last couple posters shared about meeting Ashburn reminded me of those letters. I had not thought about them in several years, but I am pretty sure they are still at my parents' house.

I don't know if you guys are familiar with this book, but one of the books on my bucket list to read is "Richie Ashburn: Why the Hall Not: The Amazing Journey to Cooperstown." I just have not had time to order the book and give it a read as yet. The book centers around Ashburn being kind to fan Jim Donahue when Donahue was a child and met the player during Ashburn's active career. Donahue subsequently got to know Ashburn later in life and started a grass roots campaign to get Ashburn elected to the Hall of Fame.

http://www.amazon.com/Richie-Ashburn...pr_product_top