Talkin' BB with our heroes....tell us of your experiences ?

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Posted By: Richard Simon

In the late 1980's a friend of mine who had talked to and befriended Ted Williams at a card show told me he just received a phone call. It came from Ted's agent at the time the infamous Vince Antonucci. Vince had just obtained a large collection of autographs. He invited my friend and I down to Fla. to view and purchase items. Vince at the time owned a large card store not far from where Ted Williams lived. Vince was also the agent for Monte Irvin. I have a nice collection of NY Giants wirephotos including many of Monte and a few Ted Williams wirephotos. I brought them with me to Fla. We took a quick flight down and drove over to Vince's store. We walked in and there sat Monte Irvin (Vince was also his agent). Vince introduced us to Monte. The autograph collection was spread all over the many showcases in his store. Monte graciously signed all my wire photos and told me the "inside story" behind each one. I relished every moment.

Vince did not want to discuss business that day, so my friend and I took Monte to lunch and dinner, all the while being regaled with stories by Monte. He went back to our hotel and continued. What a wonderful day and what a gracious man he is. One of the nicest days I have ever experienced.

But the most exciting time was still to come.

The next morning we went back to Vince's store.

I started to look at the collection, and my friend turns to Vince and says, why don't you call Ted and tell him that I am here. My friend was an ex Marine and that was a common bond with Ted and how Ted remembered him. Vince calls Ted, says John from NY is here, come on over.

Vince then says to me,,, "don't bother Ted when he gets here, he does not like to talk much." About 15 mins later driving up to the front door in a jeep comes Ted. I get introduced and Ted then, with me trailing behind, marches up and down the store looking at all the autographed items. Every player he knew something about, he would tell me a story about that guy. He tells me how Billy Hoeft once struck him out, ("I had two strikes on me, he kept throwing me curveballs and I kept fouling them off, then he snuck a fastball by me") in the 9th inning of a 1 run game and the bases were loaded, and the papers in Boston creamed him the next day "Ted Fails in Clutch" were the headlines. This after he had won the first two games of that series single handed. It was one of the best 90 minutes of my life.

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I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.

Unknown author

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We made a promise. We swore we'd always remember.

No retreat baby, no surrender.

The Boss