The plaque reads as follows
In Memory Of
Capt. Edward Leslie Grant
307th Infantry – 77th Division
A.E.F.
Soldier – Scholar – Athlete
Killed In Action
Argonne Forest
October 5, 1918
Philadelphia Nationals
1907-1908-1909-1910
Cincinnati Reds
1911-1912-1913
New York Giants
1913-1914-1915
Erected By
Friends In Baseball,
Journalism And The Service
From the memorial’s dedication in 1921 until the Giants abandoned New York and the Polo Grounds in 1957, a solemn wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Grant monument every year, usually between games of the then customary Memorial Day doubleheader.
At the conclusion of the final game played at the Polo Grounds on September 29, 1957, souvenir hunters mobbed the field and the New York Times reported that three teenagers were seen prying the bronze plaque off the monument. Rumors that the police ultimately recovered the plaque were never verified, and its whereabouts remained a mystery for over forty years.
In late July 1999, the Eddie Grant Memorial Plaque was discovered in the attic of a Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey home formerly owned by Lena and Gaetano Bucca. The new home owners, Brian and Deborah Lamb, had discovered the plaque carefully wrapped in a blanket and hidden under a trap door in the attic. Brian Lamb contacted Baseball Reliquary Board member, Wendy Brougalman, a former business associate, with news of the discovery.
Postscript
Since the above story was posted, the Baseball Reliquary has received dozens of responses, some amazing, some troubling. Someone even accused us of manufacturing a copy of the plaque, as if anyone in their right mind would fabricate a 100-pound piece of metal. One writer suggested, reasonably, that we may have stumbled upon a prototype for the original plaque, since the original as depicted in photographs has a distinctly different appearance than the Reliquary plaque. The Reliquary’s position on the Eddie Grant plaque all along has been: it’s The Eddie Grant Plaque. We’ve read our Lajoie, Boudreau, and Bordagaray along with our Deleuze, Baudrillard, Derrida, and all the other top French players, and we’ve come to the inescapable conclusion that the Baseball Reliquary’s Eddie Grant Memorial Plaque is as real as reality could ever allow it to be.
