The BASEBALL RELIQUARY Inc.
SHRINE OF THE ETERNALS
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A packed house at the Pasadena Central Library’s Donald R. Wright Auditorium, where the Shrine of the Eternals Induction Day ceremonies have been held annually since 1999, awaits the beginning of the afternoon’s festivities. |
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The Baseball Reliquary’s Executive
Director, Terry Cannon, rings a cowbell
to commence the 2009 ceremony. |
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One of only a handful of skilled musical
glass players in the world, Douglas Lee
performs his unique arrangement of the
National Anthem before a mesmerized
audience.
Then, Douglas Lee switches to the
musical saw for his version of “Take Me
Out to the Ball Game.” |
Bob Colleary accepts the 2009 Hilda
Award, which is presented annually by
the Baseball Reliquary to recognize
distinguished service to the game by a
baseball fan. Born in Brooklyn, Colleary
considers himself a baseball nomad and
the biggest fan anywhere without a
favorite team. One of his main passions
is collecting baseball relics from its
past. At one time or another he owned
Donn Clendenon’s 1969 Mets World Series
ring, Babe Ruth’s spittoon, and the
lineup card from Game Six of the 1975
World Series which was won by Carlton
Fisk’s 12th-inning homer. As
a gift to his long-suffering Bucky
Dented Red Sox fan friends, he also
performed a complex ritualistic exorcism
which Reversed The Curse using a
straight razor which had once shaved
Babe Ruth. While much of his collection
has been redistributed throughout the
collecting landscape, Colleary’s prize
possession remains Bill Veeck’s wooden
leg, which is the centerpiece of his
Strat-o-Matic baseball league, which is
known as Bill Veeck’s Leg. The annual
draft lottery is conducted each New
Year’s Eve by placing dice inside the
leg and rolling them onto the floor. |
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Mike Shannon walks to the podium to accept the 2009 Tony Salin Memorial Award, which is presented annually by the Baseball Reliquary to recognize an individual’s commitment to the preservation of baseball history. Shannon is the founder and editor of Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine since 1981. While Spitball originally debuted as a baseball poetry journal, it quickly evolved into a broader literary magazine that included baseball short fiction, prose, art, and book reviews. In 1983, Spitball inaugurated the CASEY Award, the first award specifically designed to honor authors and publishers of outstanding baseball books, and this prestigious annual award has been presented for 27 consecutive years. The author of 15 baseball books himself, Shannon, who resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, concluded his acceptance remarks by reading a poem that he wrote specifically for the occasion, "I Was the Kid." |
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Reliquarians Mark Diamond (decked out in
his Reliquary finest) and Tom Tully
await the Keynote Address. |
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The 2009 Keynote Address is
delivered by Don Malcolm, who has had a
shadowy literary career ever since the
mid-1970s, when he wrote the first
"hypertext" novel — before "hypertext"
had even been invented. In the 1990s he
turned his offbeat style and disturbing,
ambiguous tone to baseball, crashing
together numbers and literature in the
controversial follow-on to Bill James’
Baseball Abstract, called The
Big Bad Baseball Annual. He went on
the lam in 2001 and has last been seen
editing and writing for the Film Noir
Foundation’s e-zine, The Noir City
Sentinel. His book on noir, The
Dark Embrace, will be published in
2011. While working assiduously to
remain "under the radar," Malcolm has
become a stalwart (though covert) ally
of the Baseball Reliquary, an
organization he steadfastly refuses to
join "because they are the only ones who
would accept me as a member." |
Andy Strasberg, who takes enormous pride
in being referred to as Roger Maris’
most loyal and faithful fan, introduces
Maris and accepts his induction into the
Shrine of the Eternals on behalf of the
Maris family. Strasberg, who established
himself as one of baseball’s most
innovative marketers in 22 years with
the San Diego Padres, told some
wonderful anecdotes about his baseball
hero, including the story of how his own
life fatefully intersected with Maris’
life over and over again, the details of
which have been published in Sports
Illustrated and Chicken Soup for
the Baseball Fan’s Soul. |
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Jim Eisenreich’s induction into the
Shrine of the Eternals was accepted
by his close personal friends, Jill
and Mike Magnante. Eisenreich was
unable to attend due to a coaching
commitment. Mike Magnante, who is
currently a schoolteacher in the San
Fernando Valley, was a star pitcher
at UCLA, was drafted by Kansas City
in 1988, and made his major league
debut with the Royals in 1991 as a
teammate of Eisenreich’s. He had an
excellent career as a left-handed
relief pitcher with the Royals,
Houston Astros, Anaheim Angels, and
Oakland Athletics, retiring from the
pro game in 2002. The Magnantes
provided considerable insight into
Eisenreich’s battles in overcoming
the debilitating effects of Tourette
Syndrome. |
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Filmmaker Ron Shelton introduces Steve Dalkowski prior to his induction into the Shrine of the Eternals, while Dalkowski and his sister, Patricia Cain, listen attentively from their seats. A former minor league ballplayer himself, having spent five years in the Baltimore Orioles system from 1967-1971, Shelton played in some of the same towns as Steve Dalkowski did a few years earlier in the Appalachian, California, and International Leagues. After retiring from baseball, Shelton would establish himself as one of the preeminent filmmakers of our times, with his filmography including, among others, Bull Durham, White Men Can’t Jump, and Tin Cup. |
Steve Dalkowski, now 70 years of age and living in New Britain,
Connecticut, accepts his induction into the Shrine of the
Eternals. Dalkowski etched his name in baseball lore during nine
legendary minor league seasons from 1957-1965. The lefthander
threw terrifying fastballs estimated, in the days before radar
tracking, at 105-110 mph, amassing nearly 1,400 strikeouts in
only 995 innings pitched. In addition to being fast, Dalkowski
was also wild, walking a career total of 1,354 batters in the
same 995 innings. On the cusp of making the Baltimore Orioles
roster in 1963, Dalkowski blew his arm out. While he never made
it to the big leagues, his mystique as the fastest pitcher of
all time has grown in the ensuing decades. |
Arnold Hano, the renowned author of 26 books including A Day
in the Bleachers, attends the ceremony with his friend, Jean
Hastings Ardell. |
Ron Shelton with Tony Salin’s brother, Doug, who was attending
from his home in San Francisco. |
Adrienne Bratton, the daughter of late umpire and 2008 Shrine of
the Eternals inductee Emmett Ashford, visits with Ron Shelton. |
An admiring fan shakes the hand of Steve Dalkowski. |
Hilda Award winner Bob Colleary shows off his prized possession,
Bill Veeck’s wooden leg, which he purchased many years ago
through an auction.
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Among those enjoying the ceremony were
Carmen Fanzone and Sue Raney. |