Collectibles

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Constituting America's dear friend, Cher McCoy, is donating a special memento from almost 50 years ago: A New York Yankees 1978 Team Signed Baseball! 

"I obtained the ball at an exclusive breakfast with the entire team at the Holiday Inn just down the street from the ballpark where they were playing the Oakland A’s in California where I was living at the time. I was selling glass containers for OI (Owen’s-Illinois) at the time & I had just come our Oakland Plant & was meeting a close friend for dinner at the Holiday Inn. I was about 27 or 28 at the time I met the whole team." - Cher McCoy 

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How I got the Entire NY Yankee Team to sign a Baseball for Me
By Cher Grindle McCoy

This is how it happened.  But first a little background.  I was around 29 at the time.

I was a Sales Manager for O-I and sold Glass containers for then in the Bay Area and the wineries at Napa Valley of California.  I’m originally from Maine and New Hampshire but lived in several states before moving to California.  After leaving NH I went to NY to attend another school, one in NYC, Grace Downs School of Modeling, which I did part time.  I’m too short to do High Fashion but love what I did do which included being one of the two models who back then rode in a convertible with the top down with another model and the winner of the NASCAR race for the Winner’s Lap. The job I got the most was at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in N.C.  I had been in the Bay Area for 15 years before I moved back East where I remain.  

One of my best friends in California and I went out to dinner at least once a week if I didn’t have a client to take to diner.  The plant where our glass was made was in Oakland and our regional office was in San Mateo but I worked out of a district office in Lafayette, just East of the Caldecott Tunnel.  I happen to be in Oakland at the plant before meeting her for dinner.  I picked the Holiday Inn which was just at the bottom of the hill from the Oakland Coliseum which I rarely went for baseball but had Season Tickets for the Oakland Raiders a client gave me.

Were sitting at our table which was directly across from the Salad Bar.  There was one person at there getting a salad when he looked familiar.  I asked my friend did she think it was Goose Gossage?  She said, “I don’t know.  He’s YOUR favorite pitcher.”  After another minute, I said the Yankees must be playing the A’s up the street.  I’m going to go ask him.  I then said, “I wonder why he’s not at the game.” She yelled at me not to go over to him.  I remember saying something like, “Are you kidding, I get to meet Goose Gossage a alone and I’ll ask him!  She continued trying to talk me out of it as I got up, wanting to talk to him before someone else comes up to get a salad.  So, I walked over and I introduced myself and asked if he was Goose Gossage.  I told him he was my favorite pitcher and I love the NY Yankees!  I did ask why he wasn’t at the game suited up.  He said he didn’t have to because he wasn’t pitching that night.  I didn’t want to abuse my private time with him so I cut to the chase.  He was so polite and generous with his time.

I said, “Any chance in getting an autograph?”  He shocked me next when he responded with the following:  “I’ll do you one better.  If you can come back here to breakfast tomorrow, the whole tea will sign a baseball for you and will be delighted to meet you.”

All these years later I couldn’t forget my breakfast with the NY Yankee’s team while they passed a baseball around the table for everyone to sign. 

It’s time to let someone else who loves baseball, Yankees or not, enjoy the baseball and my story of how I got it. 

I’ve added a wooden beer mug in the shape of a bat to go with the ball.  I must apologize for some of the signatures have faded even though it was never in sunlight in any of the houses all these years.  I moved 23 times in 22 years while 15 of them were in California.  The one signature that is easy to see is Goose Gossage’s (he signed Rich (for Richard), not Goose.  He must have used a different pen or bared down harder.  Even still, it never changed the memory of that day.

I hope you enjoy the Bat and Ball.  I’ve added player on a separate sheet and some Yankee Triva on Goose Gossage as well as the 1978 Roster.