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« on: February 06, 2019, 06:19:32 am »
Mine was meeting Dizzy Dean and getting his autograph on my Astros hat that Harry Walker sent to me. Dizzy was in my hometown to broadcast a few innings of the minor league game and meet and greet the fans. Even though I never saw Dizzy Dean pitch, I knew lots of stories about the old Cardinals Gas House Gang because my Dad was a Cardinals fan (furthest team down south for many years). My hometown had a St. Louis Cardinals radio outlet until the Astros came into baseball.
He was friendly and wanted to talk baseball, whicch tickled the shit of me at 12. I could have had him autograph my Aces hat, but I had him sign my Astros hat. He wrote: "Best of luck from Ole Diz." Sadly, because I was probably doing something I shouldn't have been doing (manning a water balloon slingshot at summer camp aimed at girls across the lake), the slingshot recoiled and I ended up in the lake, and the lake swallowed my hat. I was devastated. I swam and looked around for the hat to no avail.
As I recall, Dizzy was dead within about a year of that chance encounter. It's truly one of my most prized memories. It's a connection, however tenuous, to a significant period in baseball.