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14. 2000s and Thank Yous

Only a few of many local stories has been told here. Please add yours to this collection. We hope you continue to enjoy our National Pastime. Play Ball!

“What is my role as Dr. Baseball?.... I decided to put something back into the community that I was fortunate enough over the years to learn about baseball…. My mission really is to see a kid when he walks out of here happy. I don’t care what level he plays; as long as he’s got a little gleam in his eye, that’s it. My ultimate goal is to see kids go on and play collegiate baseball on scholarships and to see a kid have that opportunity…. I don’t think there is a greater game in the world. I don’t think there’s a more American game…. Baseball is kind of like life: if you work hard at it and train well, good things will happen. Baseball becomes a conduit for kids to reach some of those goals. I’m just a player in that scheme.”—Sam Beale

“If I close my eyes against the sun, all at once I am back at Ebbets Field, a young girl once more in the presence of my father, watching the players of my youth on the grassy field below. There is magic in this moment, for when I open my eyes and see my sons in the place where my father once sat, I feel an invisible bond between our three generations, an anchor of loyalty linking my sons to the grandfather whose face they never saw but whose person they have already come to know through this most timeless of all sports, the game of baseball.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin

The 2000 Exhibit

One display case contained items from the University of Virginia some of which were made available through the efforts of former coach Jim West: General Athletic Association stationery for Baseball Club 1892; Ball used by Virginia Baseball team at 1893 Chicago World’s Fair intercollegiate tournament; U.Va. uniform, c. 1912 ; Fielder’s Glove, c. 1912; Spalding bat, “Black Betsy” model, made sometime in the decade before 1919. Created to be like the handcrafted hickory bat used by “Shoeless” Joe Jackson; last home plate used at Lambeth Field c. 1971; photos of Coach Jim West in 1971 at Lambeth Field.

A second display case included a shelf of material from Miller School: balls from the undefeated team of 1943 and winning teams of 1948 and 1949; school year book, 1904; team photos from 1910 and 1914; early signed bat. Other shelves held uniforms from a Little League team sponsored by Monticello Dairy, c. 1950; a Little League trophy from a team sponsored by Odd Fellows Hall, c. 1960; St Anne’s-Belfield School uniform 2000. The ball pitched by Beth Trader in a win of the Yankees over Dodgers in Babe Ruth League, a 1940s catcher’s mitt (the only thing a boy wanted for a Christmas present), and a Cove Creek Park Baseball T-shirt. The 1970s “target” mitt used by JMU and minor league pitcher Kip Yancey as a boy. Pictures of Lori Tyler, who in 1972 became the first girl to play in the local Babe Ruth League.

A number of additional images about local baseball can be viewed on the internet. Search within the Holsinger Studio Collection at the University of Virginia Library Special Collections Division, using the keyword “baseball” to see images of early 20th century teams and their fields, as well as the four pictures of the hand of Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson. Local schools and teams post current information and photos on the web. For example, search under Western Albemarle High School Baseball or Charlottesville Blues.

Acknowledgements

The Society would like to thank the creators and organizers of the exhibit, baseball quiz and ball game. Gayle Schulman, the curator, received essential help from Judy Bias, Darrell Gardner, Fred Payne, Arthur Schulman, Bob Shawich, Rich Thurston, and Jim Wootton.

The heart of this exhibit—the personal stories, the family photographs, the research and the artifacts—were contributed by the following: Lindsay Barnes, Jr., Sam Beale, Sue Behrendt, Ray Bell, Carroll Bickers, Joe Bingler, Cyndi Burton, Samuel P. Clarke, Leo Connelly, Jim Copony, H.W. Davis, Sandy DeKay, Linda Franklin, Joe Garland, John Garland, Gladys Gatlin, Edward Gaynor, Bob German, Allan Gianniny, Ed Hase, Peyton Humphrey, Laura James, William Johnson, Margaret Burgess Jones, Layne family, Devon Maness, Wes McCoubrie, Larry Miller, Ivanhoe Nelson, Margaret O’Bryant, Dorothy Palmer, Teresa Price, Carl Proffitt, Ollie Proffitt, Jerry Ratcliffe, Judy Rood, Scottsville Museum, Rev. John T. Spears, Special Collections at U.Va., Sports Promotions at U.Va., Robert Spencer, Blanche Steppe, Alan Swanson, Laura Thomas, the Trader family, the Tyler family, Ken Wallenborn, Jim West, Jennifer Williams, Chuck Wood, and Al Yancey, III. In addition, Ken Wallenborn and The Blue Ridge Connection Barbershop Quartet sang their special version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” at the opening of the exhibit.

We are indebted to the local businesses that provided equipment, materials and prizes: Cavalier Sports Cards, Charlottesville High School Athletic Department, Downtown Athletic Store, New Dominion Book Shop, Kwik-Kopy, Sloan’s Restaurant, Sneak Reviews Video, Sports Photos of Virginia, and the Young Men’s Shop.

All oral histories collected for the exhibit, together with copies of photographs and written materials, have been added to the Society’s permanent collection. The laminated exhibit panels may be requested for display.