Another milestone home run ball left the yard Monday night when Jim Thome belted the 600th of his career. He his #599 just an inning earlier in the Twins’ win over the Tigers.
As the eighth member of the 600 club, Thome could have had a battle to get the history-making ball back if it had landed in the stands. It likely would have been worth thousands of dollars on the open market. However, the ball landed in the Tigers’ bullpen and Thome got it back.
At age 40, he’s the oldest player to reach 600, his career preserved by years as a designated hitter.
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A man trying to preserve his collection of sports memorabilia bought one in the butt. Law enforcement agents were on the scene in Hillsboro, Ore., a fairly sleepy place by all accounts after a crook with a gun fired at a home owner. Get the story from Oregon Live.
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The tables were turned in Pueblo, Colo., where a man and his son walked into Rocky Mountain Sports Cards and Collectibles trying to sell a coin that another area coin dealer said was stolen from his shop earlier in the day.
They apparently picked the wrong guy.
After Rocky Mountain tipped off the victim, he came to the shop and hid inside as the suspected thieves tried to beat a retreat. One of them wound up looking up the barrel of a gun out in the parking lot, according to Chieftan.com.
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Wrestling legend Walter “Killer” Kowalski is no longer with us, but he’s still got a legion of followers and former students. Kowalski’s memorabilia was on the auction block last week in Massachusetts, drawing some pretty impressive bidding. Triple H, a loyal former student who went on to a hugely successful career in the ring himself, was the winning bidder on a few items. Check out what some of the items sold for and learn a little more about one of pro wrestling’s pioneers at WickedLocal.com.
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The Baseball Reliquary is all about the fun side of baseball. The southern California-based group honors those who made an impact on the game in some way, but that doesn’t always mean statistics. If you were memorable in some crazy way, chances are the Reliquary thinks highly of your contribution. Now, they’ve got an exhibit at the Burbank Library entitled “Not Exactly Cooperstown”, which includes a collection of baseball artifacts that fans will get a kick out of. The Burbank Leader has the story.
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1950s card collectors and/or fans of the Atlanta Braves know Ernie Johnson. The former Milwaukee Braves pitcher went on to a successful career as a broadcaster in Atlanta. Younger viewers know his son Ernie, the host of the NBA on TNT and other sporting events.
Ernie Sr. passed away recently and his son honors him in the booth by keeping his Dad’s baseball card close by. But that’s just part of a touching column by David O’Brien of the Atlanta Constitution that makes you love both guys a little more. Grab a tissue before you open the link.
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