Team B.O.B. Fundraising Opportunity
The Build Our Ballpark Board of Directors and staff proudly announce that TEAM B.O.B., lead by Robert Hellman III, will be riding RAGBRAI this summer to raise funds for our non-profit organization building baseball/softball parks throughout America The five man team of cyclists are accepting donations via our website of any denomination. Your help is badly needed and greatly appreciated. Bob Hellman Sr Executive Director Build Our Ballpark To read Robert Hellman III’s introduction to Team B.O.B., please click here. To support Team B.O.B. donate now online or make a...
Read MoreThree Generations with a Passion for Baseball
Bob Hellman Jr., Robert Hellman III, and Bob Hellman Sr. (L to R) at a 2004 World Series game between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. Baseball has always been a part of my life – for as long as I can remember. It was the first sport I ever had a chance to play. It is also a sport I’ve enjoyed both playing and watching with my entire family, including my grandfather, after whom I am named. We have even had a chance to visit the Baseball Hall Of Fame together. My love of baseball really got going when my first baseball team (which my Dad coached) won a championship. However, as...
Read MoreOne Blown Call
26 hitters in a row – one to go and another perfect game in the record books. A hard-hit ground ball to the right side of the infield, pitcher covers first base in plenty of time – runner is easily out. But no. With one blown call, a perfect game becomes a one-hitter, and baseball, a game built on stats and history, loses another potential record – three perfect games in one season. And the career of one of Major League Baseball’s finest umpires will forever be stained by one call. Jim Joyce will join a very select fraternity of Umps, including Don Denkinger, a...
Read MoreAnatomy of an Autograph
This is the third post in the series “The Art of the Autograph.” I’m writing this post by leaning heavily on my graphic design experience, knowledge of the players and their backgrounds, and vivid imagination to make these observations about autographs. No empirical research, no in-depth study of Graphology, no founding in fact … just personal opinions. With an apology to Otto Preminger for taking liberties with his 1959 movie title: “Anatomy of a Murder.” Several years ago I began to notice the difference between the beautiful and carefully written signatures of yesteryear’s players and the...
Read MoreSomething Very Rare Has Happened
In the history of professional baseball, which spans 165 years, only 19 perfect games have been recorded, with the 19th being pitched May 9, 2010, by an Oakland Athletics left-hander named Dallas Braden – an unlikely candidate to accomplish one of sports’ most difficult feats. Selected in the 1,383rd round in the baseball draft in 2004 and never considered amongst the top Major League prospects (supposedly lacking the tools to be a consistent winner in the “bigs”), Braden beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4 to 0…27 batters up, 27 batters down. And life as he knows it will never be...
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