Today I received a cool baseball from Major League Baseball umpire Ron Kulpa. A little over a week ago I was part of a Zoom meeting with a couple other schedule collectors and we started talking about my collection. My buddy Steve mentioned his two friends who are/were umpires and said I should send a request to them. Steve confirmed they both would do it so I mailed them out. Today I received the first one. In my letter to Ron, I asked him to write about his favorite memory of umpiring in baseball. His response did not disappoint! I did not realize this until I received the baseball but Ron was the home plate umpire for Justin Verlander’s no hitter back on June 12, 2007. That is a pretty cool memory but what he wrote was even cooler. He said his previous home plate assignment was for a game in which Curt Schilling pitched a no hitter for 8 2/3 innings. After that game he phoned his dad and told him that was as close as we probably would ever get to a no hitter. Funny how things work out! Thanks for the cool baseball Ron and for hooking me up Steve!
Author: Kevin
Sean Called!
Today I received something that made me really happy. Not only is the baseball really cool but the note inside that accompanied it made it even more special. Sean McDonough is not only a well respected broadcaster, he is a GREAT broadcaster. I can add “human being” to that list of “great” that he is. Sean signed a baseball with his call of Joe Carter’s walk off World Series winning home run in game 6 of the 1993 World Series. “… The winners and still World Champions, the Toronto Blue Jays!” If you are reading this I am sure you remember the call and the moment. I included where I was when this happened (it was homecoming weekend at St Cloud State and I was in the back room of a little Mexican bar/grill listening to a single guy play a guitar and sing while watching the game with my buddy Mike T). Sean also included a really cool note and returned my donation stating it was not necessary and apologizing for his “subpar penmanship” (I could read it so it was not too bad!). The note was even cooler than the baseball and the baseball was really neat. Thanks for making my day Sean!
Devin is Heaven
I received an RTS today from my request sent to Lewis Thorpe. I do not know his apartment number so it was shot back to me. I sent it hoping the letter carrier would look for it but I knew I had a slim to none shot at getting it back signed.
I did, however, received a reply from Devin Smeltzer filled with hope! Devin signed my card and included an inscription on it that said “Baseball Will Be Back!” It was just what I needed as I have been missing baseball a lot lately and pretty much have come to the realization that I will not see a Twins game live this year. Thanks for giving me hope Devin! GO TWINS!!!
Game 6
Today I received a story ball from former umpire Ed Montague. With everyone in “lock down”, Fox Sports North and the MLB channel has been playing old baseball games. One of the games they played recently was Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. While watching the rebroadcast, I discovered Eddie Montague was the home plate umpire so I sent him a baseball asking him about his memories of the game. The resulting baseball, as well as the game, was all about Kirby Puckett. It is a pretty cool baseball. He included a photo from behind home plate of Puck hitting his home run which showed Eddie’s back as well. He signed it with Best Wishes. Thanks for the neat addition to the Story Ball Collection Eddie!