A Pennant-Winning Pennant

We’ve been cleaning out our basement, and in the process have uncovered some items that I’ve had tucked away. One of them is this fun pennant that I remembered I had, but hadn’t been able to locate for over a decade! As you can probably see, it had something spill/drip on it (that happened long ago when we still lived in St. Louis), but I still think it’s a fun item.

1985 was the summer between 7th and 8th grade, and I think it was one of the first summers that my friend Craig and I went to games by ourselves and tried to get players’ autographs before and/or after the games. It was a magical season as the Cardinals won 101 games on their way to the National League Pennant. Perhaps it was the style of ball they played (stealing over 300 bases) and perhaps it was the age I was at the time, but even though they fell one game short of winning the World Series, all these years later, the '85 Birds are still my favorite team ever! In fact, I even administer a Twitter account that recaps their season day-by-day!

Anyway, the pennant above was one that I got signed by a many of the players on that team (in addition to a couple Cardinals legends). While many of the signers played multiple seasons with the Cardinals, two of them (Ivan DeJesus and Bill Campbell) played for the team only in 1985. And one of the signers (Todd Worrell) only joined the club for the last six weeks of the season, so I must have gotten at least some (if not all) of the autographs relatively late in the season.

Two Hall of Famers signed my pennant back in 1985: 

• Lou Brock (who was inducted to the Hall of Fame in '85, and is my all-time favorite)
• Red Schoendienst (who was a coach for the ‘85 Cardinals)
  

And here are the ten players from the 1985 Redbirds signed it:

• Terry Pendleton
• Willie McGee
• Jack Clark
• Andy Van Slyke
• Vince Coleman
• John Tudor
• Todd Worrell
• Ivan DeJesus
• Bill Campbell
• Tom Herr

I have no idea how much something like this is "worth." Probably not a whole lot, given the condition. But for the memories it evokes of a 13-year old kid getting those autographs, it is absolutely priceless to me! And 35 years later, it makes me want to track down Ozzie Smith and Tom Nieto to sign it so I could have a whole starting lineup's worth! 

Pick Enterprise...and I'll Pick You(r Autograph) Up

My first (full-time) job after college was with Enterprise Rent-a-Car. I worked for them for a little over eight years (1995-2003), about half in their rental division, and half as an account executive in leasing. During my time at Enterprise, I got to rent cars to a number of famous and semi-famous people, and got to meet a number of others. 

Perhaps none were as special to me as the time I got to rent a van to my boyhood idol, Lou Brock. They say you should never meet your heroes, because they're likely to disappoint you as people. Nothing could have been further from the truth with Lou! He was warm, humble and engaging, and it was truly a joy to get to spend even a few minutes with him. I even got an autograph on a ball I kept in my desk for such an opportunity!

On another occasion, a guy walked in to rent a car, and as he walked up to the counter, I was struck by how much he looked like George Hendrick. I knew it couldn't be him though, because he looked exactly like Hendrick looked when he played for the World Champion 1982 Cardinals, and this was nearly two decades later! I noticed that was wearing a necklace with a bejeweled "25" (Hendrick's uniform number), and I thought perhaps it was his son, who was a basketball teammate of Jason Kidd's at Cal. As he handed me his license though, I was shocked to see it was indeed George! Fifty years old, he didn't look a day over 30! Fortunately, I had another baseball in my desk (always have a baseball on hand for autographs!), and I had him sign it for me.

On some occasions, athletes set up a reservation in advance. When they did this, I tried to have a card or a photo of them ready to have them sign. I've written before about how Rick Ankiel was one of my favorites, and how I had him sign a photo of him that I had taken and blown up to 8x10.

One morning, former Blues forward and Hockey Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan called and set up a reservation to rent a car that afternoon. A little later though, he called back to cancel the reservation because he didn't think he could get a ride there. Just like the commercial, I told him, "We're Enterprise! We'll pick you up!" He was astonished, but gave me his address and arranged for me to pick him up that afternoon. That day at lunch, I stopped by a card shop and purchased a glossy 8x10 of him. When I picked him up that afternoon, he was very engaging, and I had a blast talking hockey with him in the car on the way back to the office. After renting him the car, I asked him if he would mind signing the photo for me and he graciously agreed to do so. The personalized autograph is one of my favorites: 

"To Pete - Thanks for your help! Brendan Shanahan 19" 

Whenever people see it they asked me what I helped him with, and I inevitably respond, "Well, you remember that one season when he got off to a real slow start scoring-wise?" Then, with a chuckle, I tell them the true story.


Other autographs that I got thanks to my time at Enterprise include former baseball players like Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst and slugger, Jack Clark. From the football world, I picked up Hall of Fame defensive back Aeneas Williams and (in a roundabout way), Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Danny Wuerffel. But that one's a story for a different day!