I am a long-time personal acquaintance of Nancy Faust, world's greatest baseball organist, who plays for the Chicago White Sox.
I have the complete official set of 2001 White Sox baseball cards given to me by Lee Biddle, father of Rocky Biddle, White Sox pitcher (isn't that a great baseball name, "Rocky Biddle"?). Jose deLeon's "lady friend" (not his wife) once almost ran me over outside Comiskey park as she was driving way too fast to get Jose to players entrance, for which he was already late. They both looked as if they had had little sleep. DeLeon did not pitch that night. Tommy John asked me for a hymnal in a Methodist Church in 1970. I gave it to him. He shared it with Sally, then his girlfriend, later (and still?) his wife. Earl Averill III is the grandson of Earl Averill who is the baseball Hall of Fame with the (hated) Cleveland team, and son of Earl Averill, Jr., who played for both the minor league north side team in Chicago as well as the Chicago White Sox. Earl and I had a contest to see which one of us could push the other into a ditch. (We were both 5 or 6.) I won. (He hit his head on a pipe and cut it open and everyone got very angry with me, except Earl, because that was just a thing that happened, no biggie to us. But did I get in trouble! Earl was my best bud until his father was traded to the San Francisco Giants in 1961; I never saw him again, damn it.) Glen Hobby pitched for the minor league north side team in Chicago in the 1960s and I baby sat his son, personally pushing baby Hobby in my metal car with the plate that fell off a Chicago trolley car. We also stored the Hobby's groceries in our refrigerator when theirs failed. Jim Parque, White Sox pitcher, wanted to sign my hat at Tiger Stadium (new one) in 2000 but I refused since it was a favorite hat and I would never be able to wear it again if it became a collectable. I did let him sign my scorebook and some other papers. Same day I also got autographs from Paul Kornerko and Mike Sirotka. To those who think all my brushes with celebrity involve baseball: I am close personal friends with my grandson Gage who is not yet a world celebrity but will be since he is already the brightest star that shines in my galaxy. (the Rev) Vince
