The Baseball Reliquary

During the past Christmas holiday season, I made the acquaintance of a gent named Nick Frankart, the son and brother of friends of ours from Church. Nick lives in California and was home visiting his family for the holiday season. Nick made me aware of a California based organization to which he belongs called The Baseball Reliquary. I had heard of this organization through SABR, but didn't know much about it, so I looked into it.

According to it's mission statement, "The Baseball Reliquary is a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history and to exploring the national pastime's unparalleled possibilities."

OK, that all sounded pretty good to me. What also interested me was an initiative of the Reliquary called the "Shrine of the Eternals." Again, to quote directly from The Baseball Reliquary....

"The Shrine of the Eternals is similar in concept to the annual elections held at the Baseball Hall of Fame, but differs philosophically in that statistical accomplishment is not a criterion for election. Rather, the Shrine's annual ballot is comprised of individuals - from obscure to the well-known - who altered the baseball world in ways that supersede statistics."

How fun is that? The first class of inductees in 1999 consisted of Bill Veeck, Curt Flood, and Dock Ellis. How can any Pirates fan not love an organization that would honor Dock Ellis? Dock even showed up in person to accept this unique honor. Here is a terrific story from the Reliquary's website about that enshrinement:

http://www.baseballreliquary.org/DockEllisFirstEternal.htm

The ballot for the 2012 Shrine of the Eternals election is out and consists of 50 candidates and includes names such as Eliot Asinof, Steve Blass, Charlie Finley, Fred Merkle, and Don Zimmer.

So, I went in for twenty-five bucks for a year's membership, and I figure to have some fun with it. Further information can be found on its website, www.baseballreliquary.org. If your membership is in and paid up by March 31, you will receive a ballot and be able to vote on the 2012 class of the Shrine of the Eternals.

Check it out, especially all you readers who are baseball fans and SABR members.