Ripken in the Minors

[GoldenAge50s]

The site has been featured nationally and was even included in a recent book about the longest game in professional baseball history. The biggest honor of all was having Cal to personally participate in multiple interviews to help share his recollections about his minor league days.

Welcome aboard!

In your quote above I assume you are referring to Dan Barry's "Bottom of the 33rd" and I notice you devote a nice section of your website to the "Longest Game".

Living not too far away from Pawtucket & McCoy Stadium, I'm a big fan of the Pawsox and wanted to post a couple of items you might have interest in seeing.

I attended the end of the Longest Game w/ my then BILaw, who was a reporter w/ the Providence Journal. I have my ProJo Press Pass signed by the Team owner Ben Mondor (since deceased), winning pitcher Bobby Ojeda, Dave Koza (winning RBI), Marty Barrett (scored winning run) & the 2 HOFer's who played in that game, Cal & Wade Boggs.

Also have the book signed by Dan Barry (who before going to the NY Times was on staff @ Providence Journal.)

(I'll bet you even know Bill Haelig, Cal's #1 Fan, who was instrumental in getting Cal to sign my Press Pass!)

[RITM]

Originally Posted by GoldenAge50s

Welcome aboard!

In your quote above I assume you are referring to Dan Barry's "Bottom of the 33rd" and I notice you devote a nice section of your website to the "Longest Game".

Living not too far away from Pawtucket & McCoy Stadium, I'm a big fan of the Pawsox and wanted to post a couple of items you might have interest in seeing.

I attended the end of the Longest Game w/ my then BILaw, who was a reporter w/ the Providence Journal. I have my ProJo Press Pass signed by the Team owner Ben Mondor (since deceased), winning pitcher Bobby Ojeda, Dave Koza (winning RBI), Marty Barrett (scored winning run) & the 2 HOFer's who played in that game, Cal & Wade Boggs.

Also have the book signed by Dan Barry (who before going to the NY Times was on staff @ Providence Journal.)

(I'll bet you even know Bill Haelig, Cal's #1 Fan, who was instrumental in getting Cal to sign my Press Pass!)

Greetings sir. Thank you for the nice welcome. The quote is a reference to Dan's book. When I first heard of the book I made an effort to contact Dan. In the message I told him about my site. To my absolute astonishment, Dan told me that he was aware of the site and that he had made it a point to thank the site in the book. Such a great honor to have been included in that book. Since creating the site I have heard so many wonderful stories about guys that played with Cal. As I would talk to some of them and do some interviews I thought that these stories should be chronicled before the stories are lost forever. Stories like Bobby Bonner not getting a 1983 World Series ring and the things he has accomplished outside of baseball. Stories like Cat Whitfield, a guy who beat out Cal for SS in 1980. In fact, the only time Cal saw action at SS in 1980 was when Whitfield got married and you better believe that Cat was ready to get back to the team after getting married. Stories about the raw power of Drungo Hazewood. Dan did a beautiful job with the book. For anyone who has not heard of it, I would recommend buying a copy. It is not just a book about the longest game in history. It is a book about life, players, and the people they love. I was not aware that Dan was with the Journal before going to the Times. I may have ready that before, but it could've slipped my mind. That certainly explains so much of his passion.

I love the press pass. Would you have a problem with me posting a scan of it on my site? I would give you full credit for the scan.

I do know Bill. In 2006, I purchased a 1980 orange Police Ripken. I was thrilled. In my mind, I had finally completed a run of Cal's solo minor league cards. I wanted to learn more about the orange card but there was nothing online about the card. I heard of Bill and sent him a message. He responded within a day. In the process of our conversations he inquired about my WBTV. I sent a scan and he confirmed it was counterfeit. He taught me how to spot a counterfeit and I decided to do something to help my fellow collectors. With a lot of his help, the site was created. His knowledge and willing to share scans gave the site the credibility that it needed early on. Bill is great people. A true friend to the hobby. That is great that he was able to assist with getting the pass signed.

[GoldenAge50s]

Sounds like you had some great learning experiences putting together your site!

You are welcome to post it--It is a rather unusual Cal artifact to say the least & hopefully your visitors will find it interesting!

NOTE: Earlier this eve, before I posted, I got an EM & picture from the Pawtucket Red Sox-- Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs game. Bill H was in the Press Box w/ Pawsox announcer Jeff Levermore, watching the game & being interviewed. Like our remodeled McCoy Stadium, the LV ballpark is a Minor Lg beauty!

[RITM]

Not sure if you ever saw this, but here is a completed auction for a game used baseball from the 24th inning. Major cash sale:

http://www.lelands.com/Auction/Aucti...Game-Used-Ball

[sayhey24]

Here's Cal's game used bat from his days with Bluefield.

Greg