The Librarian By
William Dunstone
I was 10 when my dad took my brother and I to our first major league baseball game. I don’t remember the outcome of the game, but I do remember that I was scared walking through the crowded concession tunnel of Briggs Stadium. When we walked up to the area of our seats, I wasn’t scared anymore. We could now see all those seats surrounding the beautiful green ball field. We were amazed as we stared at this same field where Cobb, Greenberg, Kaline and many others played the game. With program and yearbook in hand, we watched in awe as the 1955 Tigers and Yankees play the game. Little did I know then that baseball would have a huge impact on my life.
My brother and I learned the history of the game. We were not satisfied just knowing that Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig played on the 1927 Yankees. We searched out the other greats that played, too. We knew baseball trivia and one of us would always come up with the correct answer to a trivia question.
I fell in love with the game and for several years collected team yearbooks, programs and picture packs. I noticed that there were several really good annual publications like Street & Smith, Who’s Who in Baseball and The Sporting News Dope Book, Guide and Register that I started to purchase. Of course, I also picked up a lot of free or nearly free publications.
In the early 60’s, I saw a beautiful copy of the 1933 Who’s Who In Major League Baseball and was told that for $75, it could be mine. But who had that kind of money then?
By the time I went into the Air Force in 1964, I had accumulated a few hundred publications. I was only able to keep up with most of the annuals during the 4 years I served my country.
Later, MacMillan offered me the pre-publication price for The Baseball Encyclopedia. With that volume, I started researching several items that had interested me for many years.
As my library grew in the early 70’s, I felt that I had to put a name on it. I drew my logo and decided to call my baseball library the Diamond Sport Library.
In 1974 the assistant sports editor for the Tampa Tribune wrote an article about a sports collector friend of his and then added a piece about my library which had grown to nearly 1300 publications.
In 1981, after working for Winn Dixie for 11 years, I received recognition for my baseball library in the Winn Dixie Times. By then I had accumulated about 2400 publications.
In the summer of 1987, I became a member of SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) and found that there were many members with the same passion for baseball throughout the country studying studying the game just like me.
In 1995 a friend of mine told a writer for the Pelican Press in Sarasota about my library and he came by my house and interviewed me for a piece in the paper. I had about 6800 publications at that time.
I gained even further recognition at Tropicana Field during Fan Fest February 2001. I was inducted to the Pepsi / Rays Fan Wall of Fame and given the nickname ‘The Librarian’. I now go each year to Fan Fest to help honor the year’s new inductees and work the SABR table.
In 2002 the Rays honored me with a 2 page article in the team yearbook about the passion I have for baseball, my dedication to the team and my library that had grown to more than 10,400 publications.
I never dreamed that the library would become this large so quickly. And now with over 13,425 publications, my library has very good coverage from 1940 to date with the years before that only lightly represented. I was able to pick up most of my missing editions from ebay auctions on the Internet. I even won the bid for a copy of the 1933 Who’s Who In Major League Baseball, but it cost more than $75. My collection covers the Major, Negro, Minor, international and All American Girls Leagues (History, Stats, Player & Team Bios and Fiction - Hardback, Paperback, Magazines Newspapers and Newsletters).
I have a file cabinet full of thousands of magazine and newspaper clippings. I have also added printouts of articles that I have found on the internet. I use my library as a source of information for myself and anyone else that needs help finding an answer to their baseball questions.
As we begin a new year, 2009, I will attended my 864th Rays game on opening day. I will be in my seat (Section 308, Row F, Seat 2) with a sold out crowd.
Do you think maybe I really love this game?
Going the Distances
Tracey Canton
(8/27/99 8:25:25 AM)
On August 26th, Bill Dunstone, my dad, threw the first pitch at the Devil Rays Baseball Game! With his valent effort, he managed to get the ball ALMOST to the catcher! After all how can you expect to throw a BALL like that when you are shaking like a leaf, and smiling so BIG that you can not see the catcher, let alone, anything else! BUT, I think that HE DID GREAT!!!!! At least it got to the catcher after only one (1) bounce!
I would like to thank everyone for their help in keeping the SURPRISE a secret! Let me tell you HE WAS definately SURPRISED! He had tears in his eyes, and a smile that went from one side of his face to the other!
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Going the Distances
Bill Dunstone
Sunday, September 12, 1999
Going the distance IS appropiate for this and I cannot disagree with what's said. I WAS VERY SURPRISED when Tracey and Dick, an usher supervisor, met me in the parking lot, each grabbing an arm and telling me I was late and that I was throwing out the first pitch. They ran me up to the front door and into the stadium where others from the Devil Rays joined us and ushered me to the field. As air conditioned as the Trop is, I was sweating. I did not hear much (I had to be told twice to go out to throw the ball). Before I did, a camera man told me GO THE DISTANCE (meaning ON THE MOUND). On my way out there, I caught a glimpse of myself on the BIG SCREEN in center field. At that point, I just wanted to get out of there. I've NEVER thrown a ball from a mound before and found a whole new prospective up there.
Yup, one bounce. That was my 3 minutes of fame. I guess I got 12 more minutes to go. Ooooh, what next!
