In the 1990s the Miami-Dade Library had this awesome reading program where children could read and be entered to win Marlin tickets.
My Jacob read his little heart out and when the call came that he had won four tickets to see the Marlins play baseball, his eyes lit up and he felt like a King.
Unfortunately, that was the year baseball went on strike and he didn’t make it to that game.
A few years later we took Jake to a Marlins game and he enjoyed everything about it.
We left the stadium with Jake a die-hard Chuckie Carr fan.
My father-in-law is probably the best baseball fan out there.
He doesn’t live and breathe the sport, it has quietly just become a part of who he is.
Last summer the in-laws stopped over on their way traveling east.
I am a woman of many questions and I asked what his greatest memorabilia of baseball was that he has collected.
He in turn asked a question whether I wanted monetary or sentimental.
I don’t put limits on what someone considers great so it was a free play question.
The story was about meeting Joe DiMaggio.
I would have loved to have met DiMaggio but it was more for the Marilyn Monroe connection than baseball!
My father-in-law shared his time at a baseball convention and being selected in the lottery for Joe DiMaggio to sign a round object.
After finding a baseball to purchase, my father-in-law stood in line and watched a legend sign his baseball.
DiMaggio was older and frailer than he was in his prime at the time of the signing and when he stood up from signing the ball, he became a tad wobbly.
My father-in-law, a giant of a man at 6’8″, reached out to assist DiMaggio and the two “giants” clasped hands.
That ball DiMaggio signed that day is among my father-in-laws most valuable baseball memorabilia, not because of its monetary value but because of the memory, it rekindles of the day he shook Joe DiMaggio’s hand!
While it’s no longer possible to shake hand with Joe DiMaggio, a baseball great, there is still a chance to bring baseball home!
The Franklin Baseball Facebook page is a place for all baseball lovers to discuss their favorite sport, share photos of them playing ball, and get the latest news on everything MLB, so even after the promotion is over, Franklin fans will have plenty of opportunities to engage on Facebook!
Right here on Mommy’s Memorandum, you have the opportunity to hit another home run in a lightning round giveaway provided by Franklin Sports through Global Influence!
I will receive a pair of Franklin batting gloves for this post. No other compensation will be received. The opinions are my own and were in no way influenced by the sponsor. Others’ experiences may vary.