Comments on: From Jupiter with Love

By: Gruntosaurus

Gruntosaurus — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 02:38:35 +0000

I love a good research project, so I went digging through some Browns references and came up as baffled as you by that cap. Do you have a sense of when it was used? That might help, but if you’re sure the first name really is Frank, then your best choices are these two guys:

Frank O’Rourke, long-time major-league catcher who played for the Browns from 1927 to 1931. He died, full of years (age 92!), in 1986, which would make him marginally capable of donating a cap to a team that White managed.

Or: Frankie Pack, who had a grand total of one (1) at-bat for the 1949 Browns. (He struck out, naturally; these were the Browns, after all.) He lived until 2000 and could easily have been around to autograph a cap.

Otherwise, the few Franks or Frankies that played for the Browns either had names that couldn’t possibly be confused with O**t, or had passed from the scene long before this incident.

Great story, regardless.

By: tom s.

tom s. — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 01:12:09 +0000

TB – I think that’s one of the souvenirs where the story behind it makes it more valuable than the mere signatures.

By: Tackle Box

Tackle Box — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:20:45 +0000

Whitey’s autograph.

A long time ago (I think Whitey was still the manager), my dad played in the Ken Boyer Memorial Golf Tournament and won an autographed authentic St. Louis Browns cap during the fund-raising portion of the evening. The cap was donated and autographed by some old Brown by the name of Frank Oft or Orft or something (none of those names result in anything on b-r so I’m probably mis-remembering it).

Anyway, after the banquet and event and stuff, my dad is walking back to the car (it must have been a bit of a walk) and a golf cart pulls up and the guy in it says “wanna ride?”. It was well-primed Whitey Herzog.

(now that I’m thinking about this, this story is starting to sound like that David Allen Coe song “The Ride”….anyhoo….)

My dad says “sure” and hops in the golf cart. So, Whitey starts going on and on about Lord knows what and notices the Browns hat and asks to see it. He checks it over and in a very inebriated way says, and I quote, “You got a kid?” My dad says “yeah”. So, without hesitation, Whitey whips out a black magic marker and slaps his signature right across the bill of the cap.

My dad just kind of laughs, says thanks, gets out of the cart (they had arrived at his car) and tells Whitey to have a good night. Whitey says, “alright” and speeds away.

So, now I get this authentic, wool St. Louis Browns cap with “Best Wishes, Frank Orft (or whatever the name is)” with “Whitey Herzog” written right across the original signature.

It’s actually pretty cool.

By: roarke

roarke — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:49:47 +0000

Thank you all for the kind comments. I had a great time down there – I just wish I could have stayed longer. Gruntosaurus: you should absolutely go if you get the chance, especially if you follow the minor leagues. The big league games and practices are fun, but it gets pretty crowded with fans now (which has changed in the last five years, I don’t remember it being as crowded before), but the minor league camp is still pretty open – most of the time there were less than 25 fans hanging around. I’m extrememly lucky because my parents are both retired and rent a condo on the beach for the whole month of March and get season tickets to the Cardinals Spring games. Even at my age, I’m not too ashamed to mooch off of them for a week or so.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:30:27 +0000

I agree the backfields are great. I was watching Carlos Martinez pitch when I look to my left do a double take and see that Red Schendiost is in a cart carefully watching Martinez pitch. A few minutes later Mo drives up on his cart and parks right on my right side to watch Martinez. I leave to another field to watch someone else pitch during the Cardinals half of the inning. I look over I see DeWitt standing talking to Mo. I go back to the Martinez field in a differnet position. A few minutes later Mo and DeWitt pull up on the other side of me(I had moved in relation to Red) and I hear them talking watching Martinez.

By: arch support

arch support — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 21:41:43 +0000

Roarke’s back!

By: thirtytwo

thirtytwo — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:39:12 +0000

Gorgeous autograph – he has a perfect signature! I like the dirty ball too :) I went to the intersquad sunday and then again monday vs the mets, liked reading your view of the games! xo

By: Gruntosaurus

Gruntosaurus — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:38:15 +0000

“Well, I think I’d rather be fishin’.” One of the things I always loved about Whitey: a healthy sense of self-deprecation.

This sounds like ENORMOUS fun. By ST time next year, I expect to be retired, and will see if we can make it down there to do as you’ve done.

By: tom s.

tom s. — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:24:00 +0000

Thanks, roarke! A very good read.