Station owner gives priceless signed baseball to the Giants
A priceless piece of baseball memorabilia has found a home at the San Francisco Giants’ Oracle Park thanks to Empire Broadcasting Co. owner Bob Kieve. It’s a baseball signed by 15 players, nine of them Hall of Famers, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mel Ott and Honus Wagner.
And Kieve didn’t just pick up this trophy at an autograph show. He worked hard to get each one of those autographs when he was a 12-year-old boy growing up in New York in 1933 and 1934.
Known in San Jose for his string of radio stations, including KRTY-FM and the now off-the-air KLIV and KARA, Kieve, 97, would watch the New York Giants play at the Polo Grounds when he was a youngster. That’s where he got the ball, scrambling to beat out other kids to pick up a ball hit out of the park during batting practice before one game.
He brought the ball to games he went to that year and eventually got signatures from Ott, Ruth, Gehrig and Wagner, plus Giants players Travis Jackson, Bill Terry, Johnny Vergez, Gus Mancuso, Hank Lieber and Hughie Critz; Yankees player Tony Lazzeri; and Pittsburgh Pirates players Paul Waner, Arky Vaughn, Earl Grace and Gus Suhr.
“I personally got each of these signatures — handed the ball to the player and sometimes exchanged brief words with the player,” Kieve said, noting that he got most of the signatures in 1933 and perhaps one or two in 1934. “I was 12 years old and, in those more carefree days, was allowed by my parents to travel to the Polo Grounds and to Yankee Stadium by myself.”
Kieve had kept the ball in a safe-deposit box but decided a few years ago that he would like to donate it to the Giants if they could display it for baseball fans to enjoy. The Giants happily accepted and created a display for the ball at the Vault, the team museum at Oracle Park. Kieve went to the Giants afternoon game Sept. 12 against Pittsburgh, where he got to see the com
pleted display for the first time.
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE >> The San Jose Sharks’ annual Fan Fest is today — the Viva Callesj route goes right by SAP Center — giving fans a chance to meet players, take photos and catch the Sharks Legends take on a team from the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association.
The Sharks alums scheduled to take part include Jamie Baker, Jeff Friesen, Bret Hedican, Douglas Murray, Mike Ricci and Tom Pedersen. That’s a good roster, but I’d still bet on the women’s team.
Fan Fest activities will run from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., followed by the game, and tickets cost $12 per person or $24 for a family of four. Get more details at sanjosesharks. com.
A fun addition for this season will be outside SAP Center, and that’s “No Swimming,” a 12foot shark fin with an aluminum finish created by South Bay artist Oleg Lobykin.
A trained stone carver from St. Petersburg, Russia, Lobykin created the piece for the Burning Man festival, and it’s the latest artwork on loan to the city of San Jose through the Playa to Paseo partnership.
It will be on display near the entrance to the BMW Lounge for the whole season, which likely will stretch into June.
“The installation will be a landmark that all members of our community, especially Sharks fans, can be proud of and engage with,” Doug Bentz, Sharks vice president of marketing and digital, said in a statement. “Oleg’s fin is a great addition for the city and SAP Center.”
HEART WALK >> The Silicon Valley Heart Walk, one of five regional events under the umbrella of Bay Area Heart Walks, is scheduled for Wednesday at Discovery Meadow Park in downtown San Jose.
The American Heart Association’s heart-healthy event, which raises money to fight heart disease and stroke, will start at 11:30 a.m. Registered walkers will get to choose lunch from food trucks at the park, and there’s even Zumba and yoga this year for those who don’t want to stroll.
You can register at www2.heart.org.
CALLING ALL MUSICIANS >> Though Musicians on Call has been bringing live and recorded music to hospital patients for 20 years, it only recently started a Bedside Performance Program in the San Jose area at Valley Medical Center and Good Samaritan.
Still, Musicians on Call’s volunteers have performed for more than 1,000 patients, families and caregivers in about a year.
But the program always could use more talented musicians, so Musicians on Call has a concert Thursday at Forager Eatery in downtown San Jose that will include volunteer performers sharing their music and stories, and an open mic for anyone who’d like to get involved.
It will start at 7 p.m. at 420 S. First St.
You can find out more about the organization at musiciansoncall.org.
REVISITING BERLIN >> San Jose Musical Theater’s annual fundraising show will pay tribute to the great Irving Berlin tonight at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in San Jose. You probably know a lot more of Berlin’s music than you think, with classics like “God Bless America,” “White Christmas” and “Puttin’ on the Ritz” in his songbook.
Actress and singer Kathryn Crosby, who was married to Bing Crosby for 20 years, will be a special guest at the event, along with Tammy Nelson of “Beach Blanket Babylon” and regional cabaret star Lee Garay Toney. Tickets to the 7 p.m. show — starting at $20 — can be bought at the door at Westminster Church, 1100 Shasta Ave.