Since 1936, when the concept of a Major League Baseball Hall of Fame became a reality there have been some 286 players, managers, owners, broadcasters (even eight umpires) elected to the roster of Hall of Famers. Since 1939 this shrine to Major League Baseball has been housed in a museum in Cooperstown, NY, the hometown of Abner Doubleday -- the fellow who is said to have invented the game.

Considering that every city, town, and hamlet in the United States fields a baseball team, and countless fine baseball players have taken the field since the days of Abner Doubleday, and only 286 are in the Hall of Fame -- this is a very select group. Counted among the Hall of Fame players are five men from Nebraska: Grover Cleveland, from St. Paul, Dazzy Vance, from Hastings, Sam Crawford, from Wahoo, Bob Gibson, from Omaha, and Richie Ashburn, from Tilden.

Perhaps Richie Ashburn, of all the Hall of Famers is the most unlikely. Many did not consider him Hall of Fame material at all. He played in the Majors from 1948-1962, mostly with the Philadelphia Phillies. Though he was eligible for induction five years after his retirement from the game in 1962, and his name was submitted to the committee each year, he was not elected until 1995, the last year of his eligibility.

As Richie Ashburn said of himself, "There's a fellow that didn't drink, or smoke, or chew, or cuss, or chase broads. What business did he have in Major League baseball anyway?" He was not colorful, or a homerun slugger (just 29 home runs in a 15 year career). But he took care of business -- over 2,500 hits (86% singles) in his career, and in doing so, he became the ultimate leadoff hitter, either getting a hit or drawing a walk to get on base (he led the League in walks four times). He compiled a .308 lifetime batting average, and was a perennial Golden Glove performer in Center Field. (The Center Field area in the Phillies ballpark has been named "Ashburn's Alley" in Richie's honor.

Richie Ashburn was born in Tilden, in Northeast Nebraska, in 1927. When he was a boy, in the 30s, his family would occasionally visit his Uncle Nemo in Plainview for Sunday dinner. Nemo Ashburn lived in the next block from our house, and in the afternoon, while the adults visited, Richie would wander over to the City/Athletic Park and join the neighborhood gang in whatever sport happened to be in season. He immediately became the best player on the field, but was such a friendly, good natured fellow that no one resented his ability, and we were always glad to have him join in the neighborhood games. Besides, his Uncle Cliff had been a stand-out football player for the Cornhuskers in the late 20s, and had later played for the professional New York Giants football team. That relationship automatically gave Richie stature in our eyes.

Plainview did not play Tilden in high school sports, so I never got to see him play high school sports, but we heard plenty about his prep school exploits.

In those days, neither Tilden nor Plainview had Legion ball, so Ashburn, from Tilden and Leon Jensen, a standout athlete at Plainview, both played for the nearby Neligh Legion team. Leon was a hard throwing pitcher, and Richie played catcher (though at various times he played most positions on the team). Those two provided a formidable one/two punch for the Neligh team, and both were drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies out of high school. One of their teammates was Tommy Lasorda, who became the longtime manager of the Brooklyn, and later LA Dodgers. (A chronic sore throwing arm brought Leon's professional baseball to a close before he ever reached the Majors.)

Richie joined the Phillies organization in 1945, and was called up to the Majors in 1948. The three years he spent in the Minor Leagues he used to advantage. In the off-season he took classes at Norfolk Junior College, where he was a standout on the basketball team. He also profited from his association with important people in the Norfolk area. Businessman, Robert Harrison, later Congressman from the 3rd District, was a friend, who steered Ashburn to real estate investments in Norfolk, which worked out well, providing a sound foundation for Richie's financial future.

But Ashburn was looking ahead to life after playing ball. He contemplated a second career in broadcasting after his playing days were over. Toward that end he frequently conducted post-game interviews with other players, and presented clinics for youngsters at the end of baseball games, using his natural friendliness, and polishing his communication skills with future fans.

Ashburn was called up to the Majors in 1948, with the class of young players known as the Whiz Kids, which included future Hall of Famers, Ashburn and pitcher, Robin Roberts. By 1950 the Whiz Kids had matured, and were still in contention for the NL Pennant on the last day of the season. Ashburn became one of the heroes of that game, against the New York Dodgers when he threw out Dodger slugger, Cal Abrams at home plate, robbing him of a game winning homerun. This set the stage for Dick Sisler's homerun, which won the game and the NL Pennant. Sadly, the Phillies were swept in four games in the World Series by the Yankees.

Ashburn's success in hitting led to a belief that he could control just where his hit ball would land in the outfield. As if to punctuate this fact, and to the delight of TV comics, in a game in 1957 Ashburn hit a foul ball, which broke the nose of a spectator, and stopped the game. During the same at bat, Ashburn hit another foul ball, which hit the same woman, who was being carted off on a stretcher. She was not seriously hurt.

After 12 years with the Phillies, Ashburn was traded to the Chicago Cubs, where he spent two seasons, and in '62 he was made a member of the expansion NY Mets, a team that is still known for its futility. The indignity of playing for a team that lost 120 games was difficult for him. Perhaps the crowning blow came when he was one of the three players who were counted out in a rare "triple play" by the Chicago Cubs. Even though Ashburn was named to the NL All-Star team he retired after the season.

In 1963 Richie Ashburn began a long career as a member of the Phillies broadcast team. Over the next 35 years he became a very popular figure in Philadelphia, as a Phillies color man for radio and TV, and through his columns in the Philadelphia Daily News.When he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with Phillies Great, Mike Schmidt, 25,000 Philadelphia fans traveled to Cooperstown, NY for the ceremony.

Ashburn did not forget his Nebraska roots. He acknowledged any player with Nebraska ties, saying, "He comes from good stock. He's from Nebraska!' Once a billfold, full of money was turned in to the broadcast booth, so the owner of the lost purse could be located. Said Ashburn, "Wow, that honest fellow must be from Nebraska."

On Sept. 9, 1997, after broadcasting a Phillies-vs-Mets game at Shea Stadium in New York, Richie Ashburn suffered a fatal heart attack.

A large crowd of fans filed past his coffin at the Fairmont Ball Park in Philadelphia to pay their final respects to a fellow who had devoted most of 50 years to their beloved Phillies. He was 70 years old.

Recently a documentary on Richie Ashburn's career has been shown on TV and will come out on DVD soon, bringing belated acclamation to one of Nebraska's finest.

Source: Wikipedia and Baseball Hall of Fame

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/detail.js...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Ashburn