7/17/11 MLB BASEBALL LEGEND MAURY WILLS: ACCEPTANCE SPEECH, SHRINE OF ETERNALS ......@ pasadena library today ..for the baseball reliquary (did I spell it right?) ..great honor to hear maury wills speak, as well as the other inductees (san diego chicken, ted giannoulas, & the late pete gray (one-armed baseball player) ....also thanks to baseball reliquaey ..esp the gracious lady who gave up her seat for me ..I was humbled by her gesture ..the auditorium was full, over-full, more than standingg room only, & I waited until the last moment to go in..& they said sorry..its too full ..I was very disappointed, but I learned long not to argue in los angeles ..she said if somebody leaves , then u can go in ..I sat down at a table nearby & moments later, the other staff member came out & offered me not just a seat, but HER seat..I objected..saying, "Please I will stand.." but she refused..I was humbled, esp b/c there was so many "vips" around me..L.A. times sportswriter, curt flood down the row, maury wills a few feet away, ..how did I rank ? I didn't. I do have a news website & do a lot of blogging,but no formal journalism credentials ..so God bless the lady & the baseball reliq ..and maury wills was introduced by fred claire, a dodger front office patriarch of sorts ..& they gave a nod to curt flood, whom I recognized after he stood up, ..maury spoke of growing up in kthe projects"..didn't get his first pair of shoes until age 4 ..mentioned a name I diddnt recognize (I'm only 44, a kid compared to some of these old-timers)..this fellow whose name I didn't know (sounded like jerry tritty) ..had a profound influence on maury ..& maury started dreaming of not just being a pro baseball, but specifically a dodger (back when they were still in brooklyn0 ...and as most of u know eventually became a dodger great..but what a lot of people don't know is that he spent 8 years in the minors before getting his chance..& he says it was because he finally became a switch-hitter, & learned how to hit the curve ball ..maurice wills, born oct 2, 1932 in wash. d.c. attended w/ his wife & several members of his family ...terry cannon moderated the event (as exec. director of the baseball reliq)...also they rang the bell in honor of hilda chester..last year somebody whistled the national anthem, ..this year Jon Leonoudakis played it on his electric guitar, along w/ "Take Me Out to the Ballpark" ..introducing pete gray was nelson gary jr, also one-armed ..and a former ball player ..inspiring talk ..plus chris erskine, L.A. Times sportswriter accepted the 2011 Hilda Award,..while Paul Dickson (prolific author, sports fan, journalist, member of the press) n accepted the Tony Salin Memorial Award , & Jean Hastings Ardell gave the keynote address ...all-in-all another great great day at annual shrine of eternals..
