Eternally yours
Sunday marks the eighth annual induction ceremony for the Shrine of the Eternals, sponsored by the Pasadena-based Baseball Reliquary, honoring those whose career in the game touched something in the hearts of the fans who've had the honor of voting them.
Before we forget: 2 p.m., Donald R. Wright Auditorium at the Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut Street in Pasadena, free admission. And most likely air conditioned. For more information: www.baseballreliquary.org.
This year's honorees: Fernando Valenzuela, Josh Gibson and Kenichi Zenimura. The first, you know. The second, you should know. The third, we'll tell you about.
Read on:
FERNANDO VALENZUELA:
The first guy we can recall in baseball who had a "mania" named after him. A 173-153 lifetime mark. Not Cooperstown numbers. But they don't matter. Cy Young and Rookie of the Year in 1981, a box-office legend and, as former Dodgers broadcaster Jerry Doggett once said, he knew how to get "the Latin-speaking people" to the game. Because the Dodgers have a game Sunday and Fernando, who is part of the team's Spanish-language broadcast, can't be there, former Dodgers teammate Bobby Castillo, credited with teaching Fernando the screwball, will accept on his behalf.
JOSH GIBSON:
Known as the "Black Babe Ruth" for his 17-year Negro League career, a catcher for the Pittsburgh Crawfords credited with more than 900 homers. Mykelti Williamson played Gibson in the 1996 made-for-TV flick "Soul of the Game" , revealing his dark side as he and Satchel Paige wanted to be the first blacks to break the color barrier. Gibson's induction will be accepted by his great-grandson, Sean Gibson, who is flying out from Pittsburgh. Sean is the Executive Director of the Josh Gibson Foundation.
KENICHI ZENIMURA:
That's him between Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth (above), a pioneer in Japanese baseball as a player, coach, manager and organizer. During World War II, he and his family were sent to an internment camp in Fresno, then to Arizona, but he created baseball fields and leagues behind the barbed wire. The late actor Pat Morita, a former Arizona internee, said Zenmura left an indelible mark on that fraternal community in the desert. Zenimura's induction will be accepted by his son, Howard Zenimura, who lives in Fresno. Howard was a child during the years Kenichi, who died in 1968, was building ballparks and forming leagues in the internment camps, and wound up playing college baseball at Fresno State and later for the Hiroshima Carp in the Japanese pro leagues in the 1950s.
BILL MURRAY:
He'll be awarded the Hilda Award, named for former Brooklyn Dodgers fan Hilda Chester, for his dedication to the Chicago Cubs and part ownership of the St. Paul Saints independent team, where he is listed as the "team psychologist." No one's sure yet if Murray will show up for this. We can only hope.
Any more questions, notes or desire to join the Baseball Reliquary, contact director Terry Cannon at 626.791.7647 or email at terymar@earthlink.net.
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