George Pfister: Bullpen Coach
I called the Dodger organization today to find out what I could about George Pfister, the player whose name shouldn't be on my 1952 Brooklyn Dodger autographed baseball.
I spoke with the Dodger Team Historian, Mark Langill. This man was very friendly and helpful and patiently answered all of my questions. I thought my question about George Pfister was a little off the wall but he assured me that he's heard them all.
George Pfister was on the 1952 Brooklyn Dodgers team as bullpen coach. The Dodgers hired him in 1951 as bullpen catcher and kept him on the following year as coach. The other Brooklyn coaches that year included Billy Herman, Cookie Lavagetto, and Jake Pitler. Why they didn't sign the ball is a mystery.
Based on some other information that Mr. Langill gave me, I now believe the ball was signed sometime in August or early September 1952.
K-
Wow, great research. Sounds like you've got quite a find. I'm with you on the sports thing now--Georgia's not National Champs so I don't care, I don't like basketball unless a blood relative is playing, and I couldn't care less about the NFL. I used to like the Braves, but once Ted sold them to AOL they've decimated the team, so I don't even have that to look forward to. I'll just have to make do with urchin sports until next fall.
Wow, Kem, that's cool! I'll bet there are some diehard Dodger fans who would love to be able to own that.
As for sports... I'm a major disappointment to my children. I was a good and loyal Little League mom and watched my son's high school games, but otherwise, I've never had much interest in sports. My daughter is a diehard Raiders and A's fan, my son is a forty-niners/giants fan. Both watch a lot of ESPN. Hubby and I watch Sci-Fi and all the Discovery channels.
I thought for sure you'd have to make a day trip to New York to find out what you needed to know. Excellent detective work, Kem.
(Unrelated, but interesting sidenote: I just learned today that Lou Brock lost most of his own baseball memorabilia (that is, stuff about him) in a divorce. Bummer. It's possible he's going to join the upcoming Cards Caravan with the hope of being able to buy back some stuff from the fans. Did anyone besides me own a Brock-a-Brella? I wish I still had it.)
Dang, Marie, I should have thought of that. A trip to New York!
That's too bad about Lou Brock. I lived in St. Louis for a couple of years a long time ago and followed the Cardinals while I lived there. He retired the year before I got there. I had a Brock-a-brella but it's long gone.
K-
Re: My previous posting to your Jan. 2 "P and D" - After George returned from military service in 1946 he was in the Dodgers farm system and later front office until the 70's or early 80's. As for the reason his signature appears on your baseball - strictly a guess - George told me he was listed as a player-coach - in his words: "in case Roy went down".
trc