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Mike Marshall, CYA Winner, dies

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mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,188
4,100
Well, I guess his autograph isn't gonna get any easier now.
In theory, it would not have mattered a whole lot. He did sign some stuff, so he was not impossible, but he was not actively signing anything lately as far as I knew. Chris Potter did get a ton of stuff into the market and collectors hands, so that was huge.

I would have liked to gotten one of his certified cards that isn't fading. There is one listed now that is actually a decent price, given the scarcity of his certified signatures and overall cost of any signature, but I still can't bring myself to spend $300+. I got a few cards from Potter, so I will have to be happy with those.

Sorry to hear of yet another Dodger death. Unless I missed one, by my count, that is 10 so far in 2021:

Beckwith, Joe
Hines, Ben
Hunter, Willard M "Bill"
Lasorda, Tommy
Marshall, Mike G
Sherry, Norm
Smith, Jack H
Sutton, Don
Terwilliger, Wayne
Williams, Stan
 

smapdi

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
4,397
221
Really interesting guy. He had strong opinions on baseball and the hero worship that seems to come naturally with it. I remember 60 Minutes or someone did a story on him and his pitching school. He had tried to develop a new pitching motion that he hoped would relieve a lot of the stress on the joints and tendons, and would eliminate rotator cuff tears, TJ surgery, etc. It looked odd, as one might expect, and they couldn't really get effective speeds, the most proficient pitchers getting into the 80s. But I admired him taking his medical knowledge and really trying to apply it to the problems of his sport.
 

deaconblues63

Well-known member
Oct 25, 2012
2,656
1,514
Really interesting guy. He had strong opinions on baseball and the hero worship that seems to come naturally with it. I remember 60 Minutes or someone did a story on him and his pitching school. He had tried to develop a new pitching motion that he hoped would relieve a lot of the stress on the joints and tendons, and would eliminate rotator cuff tears, TJ surgery, etc. It looked odd, as one might expect, and they couldn't really get effective speeds, the most proficient pitchers getting into the 80s. But I admired him taking his medical knowledge and really trying to apply it to the problems of his sport.
I really thought he was interesting and had some very principled stances. I know several of his ex-teammates that have told me how he refused to sign team balls, personal items and items for charity, even for them, because he strongly believed that athletes shouldn't be admired, but that teachers and parents should be the objects of our admiration. I can't really argue with that.

However, once Jim Stinson, Bill Corcoran and Chris Potter offered him enough money, he was able to put his moral objections aside.

It reminded me of this old George Bernard Shaw story:

Shaw: Madam, would you sleep with me for a million pounds?

Actress: My goodness. Well, I'd certainly think about it.

Shaw: Would you sleep with me for a pound?

Actress: Certainly not! What kind of woman do you think I am?!

Shaw: Madam, we've already established that. Now we are haggling about the price.

I don't really think Marshall was as principled as he claimed to be. Someone just had to haggle about the price with him.
 

Therion

Well-known member
Nov 19, 2008
5,781
389
Looooooosiana!
I really thought he was interesting and had some very principled stances. I know several of his ex-teammates that have told me how he refused to sign team balls, personal items and items for charity, even for them, because he strongly believed that athletes shouldn't be admired, but that teachers and parents should be the objects of our admiration. I can't really argue with that.

However, once Jim Stinson, Bill Corcoran and Chris Potter offered him enough money, he was able to put his moral objections aside.

It reminded me of this old George Bernard Shaw story:

Shaw: Madam, would you sleep with me for a million pounds?

Actress: My goodness. Well, I'd certainly think about it.

Shaw: Would you sleep with me for a pound?

Actress: Certainly not! What kind of woman do you think I am?!

Shaw: Madam, we've already established that. Now we are haggling about the price.

I don't really think Marshall was as principled as he claimed to be. Someone just had to haggle about the price with him.
Bingo. It always struck me as curmudgeondry masked as principled.
 

smapdi

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
4,397
221
You can have principles, or what you believe are your principles, but if enough money comes along to channel into something you believe in, compromise might not be compromising. The money he made from a small number of signatures might have been the jumpstart his school needed, or gone to pay for surgery for his wife, who knows what. So sure, he went against his beliefs. It's not like the market was suddenly flooded with Marshall autos.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,188
4,100
I guess at least he signed some. There are others who took that attitude to their graves and some still living, that may do the same.
 

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