The Baseball Reliquary – the national pastimes’ most fan-centric organization – Sunday (July 17) held induction ceremonies for its 2017 Shrine of the Eternals class. Joining such already enshrined baseball luminaries as Roberto Clemente, Dizzy Dean, the San Diego Chicken, Bill James and Dr. Frank (Tommy John surgery) Jobe were: legendary Dodgers’ broadcaster Vin Scully; player turned self-deprecating broadcaster Bob Uecker; and famously inept – but immensely popular – pitcher (and cartoon icon) Charlie Brown.
Also honored (for fan contributions) were Negro Leagues players advocate Cam Perron and (for contributions to preservation of baseball history) Latino Baseball History Project founder Dr. Richard Santillan.
The ceremonies – already established as a traditionally both raucous and reverent event – were held before a packed house of baseball fans at the Donald R. Wright Auditorium in the Pasadena (CA) Central Library. They included musical performances (Take Me Out to the Ball Game) by the Symphomaniax (a musical quartet representing the San Fernando Valley Symphony Orchestra); plenty of cow bell ringing; and a keynote address by award winning writer/journalist and Detroit Tiger/Mark Fidrych fan Dave Mersey.
Before taking a look at this year’s electees, I’d like to provide a brief overview of both the Baseball Reliquary and its Shrine of the Eternals. If you are a baseball fan and not a Reliquary member, it’s time you considered joining this free-spirited (if somewhat eccentric) organization dedicated to celebrating the human side of our natinal pastime. (If you’ve been following Baseball Roundtable, you’ve read this pitch before. Please bear with me.) The Baseball Reliquary is a fan-focused organization committed to recognizing baseball’s place in American culture and to honoring the character and characters of the national pastime. It pursues that mission through its collection of artifacts, traveling exhibitions, ties to the Whittier College Institute for Baseball Studies and (perhaps, most visibly) through its own version of the Baseball Hall of Fame – the Baseball Reliquary Shrine of the Eternals. For more on the Baseball Reliquary, click here.
The Baseball Reliquary Shrine of the Eternals
Similar in concept to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Shrine of the Eternals differs from the HOF in that statistical accomplishment is not the principal criterion for election. The Baseball Reliquary believes that the election of individuals on merits other than statistics and playing ability offers the opportunity for a deeper understanding and appreciation of baseball than has been provided by “Halls of Fame” in the more traditional and conservative institutions. Criteria for “Shrine” election include: the distinctiveness of play (good or bad); the uniqueness of character and personality; and the imprint that the individual has made on the baseball landscape. Each year, the Baseball Reliquary submits a list of candidates to its members and the top three vote-getters are honored.
Now the 2017 honorees:
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2017 SHRINE OF THE ETERNALS HONOREES
Vin Scully (1927- ) – 59.5%
Photo courtesy of The Baseball Reliquary/
If anyone’s career is appropriate to a spot in the Shrine of the Eternals, its Vincent Edward “Vin” Scully – whose career as a baseball broadcaster was a close to eternal as anyone has ever come – 67 years behind the microphone. (Note: Scully’s total of 59.5 percent of the vote is the highest figure since the annual Shrine of the Eternals election process was inaugurated in 1999, topping the 53 percent totals of Bill “Spaceman” Lee in 2000 and Buck O’Neil in 2008.) Scully was the voice of the Dodgers from 1950 until his retirement after the 2016 season, as well as NBC’s lead television broadcaster for much of the 1980s and the voice of the World Series for CBS radio in the 1990s.
I have never seen an exact count of the number of games Scully “called” during his career, but we do know he was on the broadcast team for 28 World Series, 21 no-hitters and three perfect games.
The fluid sound of Scully’s voice and his often poetic anecdotes, became as much the sound of major league baseball as the crack of the bat, the slap of leather ball into leather glove or the shouts of vendors eager to part with hot dogs or beer.
How impressive are Vin Scully’s credentials? Here are just of few of the recognitions he has received: Baseball Hall of Fame Ford Frick Award (1982); Lifetime Achievement Emmy and induction into National Radio Hall of Fame (1995); three-time national Sportscaster of the Year (1965, 1978, 1982); American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame (1992) and Sportscaster of the Century (2000) recognitions; MLB Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award (2014); and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016). Again these are just a few of his recognitions. (Scully, for example, was also named California Sportscaster of the Year 32 times, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and more than one street named after him.) And now, he takes his place in the Shrine of the Eternals. For more on Scully, try The Vin Scully Story, by Carl Smith (2009).
At times I’ll be listening to him and I’ll think, “Oh, I wish I could call upon that expression the way he does. He paints the picture more beautifully than anyone who’s ever called a baseball game.”
Dick Enberg
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Bob Uecker (1934- ) – 37%
Photo courtesy of The Baseball Reliquary/
Dubbed “Mr. Baseball” by TV talk show host Johnny Carson for his tongue-in-cheek approach to the national pastime, Bob Uecker finally has his seat “in the front row” – as a Shrine of the Eternals inductee.
Uecker has clearly made baseball his life and Milwaukee his hardball home. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Uecker grew up watching the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers and signed his first professional contract with the major-league Milwaukee Braves (1956). Uecker – a catcher by trade – made his big league debut with the Braves in 1962 (after six minor league seasons, during which he played 557 games and hit .274, with 78 home runs and 254 RBI). In six major league seasons (Braves, Cardinals, Phillies), Uecker played in 297 games and hit an even .200, with 14 home runs and 74 RBI.
Bob Uecker has the ability to translate failure into success – particulary if that success is measured in good will and smiles. His self-deprecating approach to having reached the ultimate level of the national pastime somehow brings us all a little closer to the game.
Uecker retired as a player after the 1967 season and began a full-time career as play-by-play announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1971 – a position he still holds. Over the years, he has also served as a baseball color commentator for ABC (1970s) and NBC (1990s); hosted a pair of syndicated sports television shows; appeared as broadcaster Harry Doyle in the “Major League” movies; and played a key character in the sitcom Mr. Belvedere. Uecker received the National Baseball Hall of Fame Ford C. Frick Award for his work as a baseball broadcaster in 2003.
What separates Uecker from many former players-turned-broadcasters is his dry and self-deprecating sense of humor. For example, of his original signing, he says “I signed with the Milwaukee Braves for three-thousand dollars. That bothered my dad at the time because he didn’t have that kind of dough. But he eventually scrapped it up.”
Anybody with ability can play in the big leagues. To last as long as I did with the skills I had, with the numbers I produced, was a triumph of the human spirit.
Bob Uecker, reflecting on his MLB career
Uecker’s wit (and knowledge of and love for the game) not only earned him a spot in the broadcast booth, but also pop-culture stardom through dozens of appearances on the Tonight Show and a starring role in a series of Miller Lite commercials (as well as his movie and TV roles).
In addition the Ford Frick Award, Uecker was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame (2001); the Braves Wall of Honor (2009); and on August 31, 2012, the Brewers erected the Uecker Monument outside Miller Park – alongside the statues of such heroes as Hank Aaron and Robin Yount. The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association named Uecker as Wisconsin Sportscaster of the Year five times and inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2011. For more on Uecker, try his book “Catcher in the Wry.”
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Charlie Brown (1950- ) – 25.5%
Image courtesy of The Baseball Reliquary.
Charlie Brown – created ty the late Charles M. Schulz – takes the field (the mound actually) for the love of the game – and in the process teaches us a lot about humanity and grace (under pressure and in the face of disappointment).
Brown is both the manager of the Peanuts baseball team and, almost always, its pitcher. While he imagines himself as possessing a blazing fastball, sharp-breaking curve and devastating change up, he usually ends up literally being upended and undressed by line drives up the middle. Still, he shows up and takes his turn on the mound – with optimism – game after game, loss after loss, come rain or shine. Despite decades of disappointment, Charlie has never lost hope – nor waned in his love of the game.
Charlie Brown is all about hope, optimism and perseverance. There is always the next contest or the coming season.
Brown is truly the underdog’s underdog – even his favorite player reflects his approach to the game (and life). It’s not Mantle, nor Mays, nor Trout, but rather little-known Joe Shlabotnik. Yet, in his enduring passion for the game and his unbreakable spirit (in the face of what some say is close to 1,000 losses versus single-figure wins), we can all learn a lesson about the importance of optimism, perspective and perseverance in the face adversity. Note: At their peak, Charlie Brown and his team’s exploits appeared in more than 2,500 newspapers in 75 countries.
There’s something lonely about a ball field when it’s raining.
Charlie Brown
As is noted in the final line of Charlie Brown’s Shrine of the Eternals nomination “Yes, Charlie Brown may be a blockhead, but in his unshakeable belief in himself and his imagination, he will always be a winner.” He clearly won enough hearts to take a place in the Shrine of the Eternals.
Scully, Uecker and Brown join 54 previous inductees to the Shrine of the Eternals. For the full list, click here.
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Additional Awards were presented to:
The Hilda Award – Cam Perron
The Hilda Award – established in memory of legendary Brooklyn Dodgers’ super-fan Hilda Chester – recognizes distinguished service to the game by a baseball fan. The 2017 Hildo went to Cam Perron.
As a middle-schooler, Perron began writing letters seeking the autographs of veteran Negro League players. Perron’s early interest in the Negro Leagues quickly grew into a true passion for those too often unsung heroes of the Negro Leagues. By his freshman year in high school, Perron was organizing annual Negro Leagues reunions, bringing together (and celebrating) players who had been out of touch (and, perhaps, out of mind) for decades. In addition to brining new light to the accomplishments of Negro Leagues heroes, Perron also has been a key force in securing pensions for many of the players through a program offered by Major League Baseball. A 2016 graduate of Tulane University, Perron, now 22-years-old, continues his research into – and promotion of – Negro Leagues players and history. In those efforts, he regularly communicates with former players. He was recently spotlighted on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.
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Tony Salin Memorial Award – Dr. Richard Santillan
The Tony Salin Award – named in memory of the late baseball author and historian – recognizes individuals for their commitment to the preservation of baseball history. The 2017 recipient, Dr. Richard Santillan, has taught Chicano Studies for the past 45 years in the California State University system. He also is a founding member of the Latino Baseball History Project at California State University, San Bernardino.
Since 2011, Santillan also has been the lead author for a bokseries on Mexican-American baseball (Arcadia Publishing). The series showcases Mexican-American baseball and softball photos (and stories) through the lens of race, class, gender, political and civil rights, the border, prejudice and discrimination. It also reflects on how baseball and softball have served as political tools to advance equality and social justice. This summer will see the release of the eleventh and twelfth books in the series (eleven covering Houston and Southeast Texas and twelve covering El Paso). Three more books will be released in 2018. Dr. Santillan and his wife, Teresa, also recently donated their Los Angeles Dodgers collection, one of the largest private Dodgers collections in the world, to the Baseball Reliquary. It is housed at the Institute for Baseball Studies at Whittier College.
Coming Soon: Announcement of BBRT’s Killebrew and Sano bobblehead giveaway; a special guest post from Ross Uitts Old Sports Cards (oldsportscards.com) on his ten favorite baseball cards of all time.
I tweet baseball @DavidBBRT
Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); The Baseball Reliquary; The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum; Baseball Bloggers Alliance.
