I was home sick a few days with a cold, and even I can only sleep so long. I found myself rearranging my baseball memorabilia. I don’t have a lot of baseball stuff, just things pertaining to people that mean something to me.
My son, Mark, is the real collector. He has boxes of baseball cards, numerous signed baseballs, autographed pictures, banners, and programs. Of course, living in a town that has Major League Baseball helps, and I have to admit The Ballpark in Arlington is beautiful.
My memorabilia collection is much more reserved. I collect things of special meaning to me, and they usually pertain to people I find remarkable, not just as a sports figure, but as a person.
Growing up, I had three heroes: my Dad, Babe Ruth, and Roy Rogers. My Dad had a striking resemblance to Babe Ruth, and he was an avid baseball fan. I still remember my Dad on one side of Hawley Street in Rochester, N.Y., and me on the other as he taught me how to throw a curve ball. Dad grew up in the state of New York, and whenever we spoke of baseball, which was often, "The Bambino" was without a doubt Dad’s favorite.
I have a small postcard-sized picture of Babe Ruth, and my sister gave me a collector’s plate of the Babe in his famous hitting pose—reminders of two of my heroes.
Prior to Dad’s untimely death at age 46, he took me to see many of the Rochester Red Wings games. Last year, while visiting my family, which still resides in upstate New York, a friend of the family gave me a Red Wings baseball cap. Last week, my nephew’s daughter sent me a Red Wings bumper sticker. Both of those items are proudly displayed among my memorabilia. Not because I am still Red Wings fan, but because two people I care about cared enough to send them to me.
I have the ticket for opening day, April 11, 1994 at The Ballpark in Arlington. It’s significant because I was able to attend with my son. Next to the ticket is a baseball autographed by Nolan Ryan, a man I have the greatest respect for, and the man after whom my grandson is named.
Rounding out my baseball collection is a picture of my grandson and granddaughter. Both are in their baseball uniforms, and both deserve a special place in my room.
I’m still hoping for that Pudge Rodriguez autographed baseball.
I don’t have any basketball memorabilia. As I wrote, I’m a selective collector, and what I collect has to have meaning to me. I can’t find anything meaningful in basketball. When the average player makes $2.5 million and the pros refuse to play, I refuse to support them. That’s right, I wrote average player--the guy who does nothing spectacular, probably sits and watches the five above-average players play.
I don’t have a lot of football memorabilia, either. I have a great picture of Randy White I took at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame prior to the induction of Billy Welu.
That brings me to bowling. I don’t collect bowling nick-knacks, but I do enjoy collecting those things that have special meaning to me.
My prize possession is a photograph I took at the 1998 ABC Hall of Fame induction in Reno, Nev. The photograph depicts Dick Weber, Ray Bluth, Don Carter, and Bill Lillard—wonderful gentlemen who paved the way for professional bowling and still are bowling’s greatest ambassadors.
I love photographs of the greats in the sport of bowling because it’s something I can give to my grandchildren. It’s especially rewarding when I get to take the picture.
Bowlers take a bad rap from the public and sportswriters, and it’s appalling when movies like "King Pin" depict our sports as some type of freak show. Bowlers like Johnny Petraglia, Mike Aulby, Brian Voss, and Walter Ray Williams Jr. deserve better.
I have a commemorative bowling ball honoring Jack Reichert’s induction into the ABC Hall of Fame in 1998. I have two commemorative bowling balls from the Quaker State Open of 1988 at Forum Bowl in Grand Prairie. They are especially important to me because I think the Quaker State Open was a premier stop on the PBA Tour. The Hulsey family and Forum Bowl knew how to host a quality event.
Years ago it was common to award trophies for league play, and over the years I gave all of our trophies to the youth bowling associations. However, I have two awards proudly displayed with my bowling memorabilia; both were earned bowling with my son. One is the 1980 BPAA National Finalist award, and the other is a plaque we received when we bowled in Washington, D.C. as the Texas representatives in the National Family Tournament in 1981.
I have a drawing that was done in 1993 at the ABC Tournament in Tulsa, Okla., that depicts me after I rolled my first 700 series. It’s significant because it was given to me by my best friend and bowling partner.
Okay, so I don’t have a huge collection, and it probably isn’t worth a lot of money, but anyone can collect for money. What I have are items that are meaningful because to whom they pertain and their relationship to my life.
Everyone needs heroes, whether it’s Babe Ruth, John Glenn, Mark McGwire, or Roy Rogers. Bowling centers should display our bowling greats for all our youth bowlers to see and know.
Oh yea, Roy Rogers: I got to meet him in Vietnam in 1966—a wonderful gentleman and true American hero. By the way, he was a bowler, too.
See you on the lanes.
Don Wright is a member of the Bowling Writers Association of America. His home page is located at www.vvm.com/~wrightd.