![\"Andy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SUT-L-strasberg-0425-04.jpeg\")
Andy Strasberg\u2019s book, \u201cStrasberg\u2019s Base Ball Klediment Tales\u201d includes dozens of items that bring back a lifetime of memories.\n(Courtesy Andy Strasberg)<\/p>\n
One of the more common laments among sports fans of a certain age is: \u201cI wish my mom hadn\u2019t thrown out all my baseball cards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Longtime San Diegan Andy Strasberg saved his cards.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut in addition to that, I also saved the wrappers,\u201d Strasberg said.<\/p>\n
We all know how vintage cards have skyrocketed in value over the decades, some going at auction for millions of dollars.<\/p>\n
Even the wrappers to those cards can be worth hundreds of dollars. The wrapper from a pack of 1952 Topps baseball cards sold on eBay last month for $750.<\/p>\n
\u201cValue is not why I saved things,\u201d Strasberg said. \u201cIt was to get closer to the game and the experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cBuying baseball cards, I realized that just the cards alone would not unlock those memories. So I collected the wrappers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Does he still have the gum that came along with the cards?<\/p>\n
\u201cI do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Remember the smell? Oh, yeah.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou smell that gum, and it\u2019ll take you back,\u201d Strasberg said. \u201cBut the wrappers, you would see all the wrappers outside the candy store when I was growing up in New York. You\u2019d know by the wrappers they got the latest series (of cards), and I would go pick up the wrappers.\u201d<\/p>\n
It turns out that Strasberg held onto just about everything from his childhood. Adulthood, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey unlock memories,\u201d Strasberg said. \u201cI love photos. I love real objects, whether it be the key to my first car, which I still have, a drawing from my 7-year-old niece, who\u2019s now 57. My dad\u2019s pipe that he used to smoke with. \u2026 It just connects. It immediately opens up the door and takes me back. And there are very, very few things that I didn\u2019t keep that I hoped that I would keep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strasberg, 78, has spent a lifetime gathering keepsakes. Many of them are baseball-related, stemming from his love of baseball and the Yankees \u2014 especially Roger Maris \u2014 in his youth and working in the Padres\u2019 front office from the 1970s through the 1990s.<\/p>\n
Strasberg\u2019s collection of baseball memorabilia is one of the finest in the nation \u2014 or at least it was.<\/p>\n
He has gotten rid of everything in recent years. Items have been donated to the San Diego Historical Society, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and other museums or placed for auction. Strasberg made a point to get a picture of the items and write down the stories behind them before they went out the door.<\/p>\n
He chose 61 of those items to highlight in his book \u201cStrasberg\u2019s Base Ball Klediment Tales,\u201d which was a Casey Award finalist by \u201cSpitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine\u201d for outstanding baseball books.<\/p>\n
Andy Strasberg\u2019s book, \u201cStrasberg\u2019s Base Ball Klediment Tales\u201d includes dozens of items that bring back a lifetime of memories.
\n(Courtesy Andy Strasberg)<\/p>\n
Klediments?<\/p>\n
\u201cKled-i-ments, noun plural: belongings you just can\u2019t throw away. A keepsake. An artifact. A memento. A possession of great personal worth often unrelated to its intrinsic monetary value.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI found the word years ago,\u201d Strasberg said. \u201cI came across it and thought, someday, this word is going to be very useful to me. What I didn\u2019t want is to use the word souvenir, memorabilia, artifact. I wanted a word that had a little bit more of a feeling to it and make it different, because all the klediments that I have are unique.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs my wife pointed out, they\u2019ve all got back stories, where if you go into a card shop or you go bid on an item, you\u2019re investing money, and maybe it\u2019s a great item, but it doesn\u2019t have the back story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strasberg has a tale to tell. Others have a receipt to show.<\/p>\n
Roger that<\/p>\n
While most youngsters growing up in New York in the late 1950s and early 1960s were Mickey Mantle fans, Strasberg gravitated to Maris. His devotion was rewarded in 1961, when Maris hit 61 homers to break Babe Ruth\u2019s single-season record.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the 1961 season, I wrote a letter to WPIX and asked them for a copy of the video of Roger Maris hitting his 61st home run,\u201d said Strasberg, who would strike up a friendship with Maris and his family. \u201cThey sent me back a letter saying while they had the videotape, it was like 3 inches wide and the only way you could play it was if you had a videotape machine, which was the size of a refrigerator and cost $10,000. So what was I thinking?<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the early 1980s, two things happened: One is I reached out to a guy who works for the Boston Red Sox, Jim Healy, and I asked if he had a tape-recorded broadcast of the radio broadcast of Roger Maris hitting his 61st home run. He did, and he sent it to me. The other is Marty Appel, who was working for the Yankees, he got me the 1961 television special that\u2019s 30 minutes long about Roger Maris. Both of those items are a QR code in the book.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Scan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/VinScully-A-Day-in-the-Life.jpeg\")
Scan the QR code to hear Vin Scully recite Beatles’ song “A Day in the Life.”<\/p>\n
There are two dozen QR codes in the \u201cKlediment\u201d book, giving readers an opportunity to be listeners and viewers as well as readers. One of the QR codes leads to a reading by Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully. At one stage of his life, Strasberg worked for radio station KGB and stated on the air that Scully is the greatest broadcaster in our lifetime.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo prove my point,\u201d Strasberg said, \u201cI asked Vin if he would record a shopping list, and he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Years later, ESPN found out about it and included it in a 2016 broadcast. The clip can now be found on the internet.<\/p>\n
Strasberg met Scully in 1975, when he was asked to give the broadcaster a ride to the airport so he could catch a flight after a game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when I had the experience of both of us getting into the car, and when he started talking, my reaction was to turn up the sound on the radio \u2014 and he was sitting right there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strasberg also asked Scully to do a spoken word version of the Beatles\u2019 \u201cA Day in the Life.\u201d And that\u2019s the QR code in the Klediment book that people can access. As one could imagine, it\u2019s tremendous.<\/p>\n
My card, sir<\/p>\n
When he was 12, Strasberg began mailing a letter to the Yankees each year requesting an interview to be a ballboy. He knew full well that you had to be of legal age to do it, but Strasberg wanted to plant the seed six years early.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was 18, I got the letter back that I wanted,\u201d Strasberg said. \u201cIt said you have been scheduled for the interview for the position of ballboy.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was to meet with Bill Bergesch, the Yankees\u2019 manager of stadium operations. Before the interview, he went to a printer and had business cards made up:<\/p>\n
Andy Strasberg, ballboy, New York Yankees<\/p>\n
At his interview, Strasberg said: \u201cWith all due respect, Mr. Bergesch, that\u2019ll be a valid business card with the conclusion of this interview. Forty-five minutes later, I got the job.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe took me down to see Pete Sheehy, the equipment manager, and he showed me where my locker was. This is December, and my locker is about three feet from Mickey Mantle\u2019s, but there\u2019s a wall in between us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strasberg was given a Yankees cap and sent on his way. He was to call on March 1 and set up a time to report for orientation, sign paperwork and get fitted for a uniform.<\/p>\n
On March 1, Strasberg called the Yankees office and asked for Bergesch.<\/p>\n
An operator put him on hold.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next voice that comes on,\u201d Strasberg, said, \u201cis a gentleman with a southern drawl who said, \u2018This is Colonel Stallings speaking, how can I help you?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Strasberg explained that he was hired to be a ballboy for the 1967 season but he was interrupted in mid-sentence.<\/p>\n
\u201cStallings says, \u2018Mr. Bergesch doesn\u2019t work here anymore, and neither do you,\u2019 and hangs up on me,\u201d Strasberg said.<\/p>\n
His dream crushed, Strasberg was beside himself with anger. He tracked down Bergesch\u2019s home phone, called him and went off. Strasberg was, of course, oblivious to the fact that while he\u2019s out of a job as a bat boy, Bergesch was out of a job that provided the income for a mortgage, two car payments, college tuition for two kids \u2026<\/p>\n
When it finally hit him, Strasberg said, \u201cMr. Bergesch, I\u2019m sorry. I apologize.\u201d The man said, \u201cAndy, I hope you get a job in baseball\u201d before hanging up.<\/p>\n
A decade or so later, Bergesch was back with the Yankees. Strasberg had been hired by the Padres when their paths crossed in the press box.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stick out my hand,\u201d Strasberg said, \u201cand I say, Mr. Bergesch, my name is Andy Strasberg. You probably don\u2019t remember me, but \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, I remember you,\u201d Bergesch said.<\/p>\n
To this day, Strasberg keeps the Yankees ballboy business card in his wallet (he has gone through several over the years from the original box of 50).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason I\u2019ve got that card is because it taught me one of the most valuable lessons in my life,\u201d Strasberg said. \u201cSometimes things don\u2019t work out. And the key is how you respond after.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe the Yankees could close the circle on the story and bring Strasberg out for one game as ballboy. If he signs an injury waiver, of course.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/TonyGwynnbigbat.jpg\")
The Padres publicized Tony Gwynn\u2019s 1984 batting championship with this promotional photo, which include Strasberg catching behind the plate. (Courtesy Andy Strasberg)
\n\u2018Magnet for memorabilia\u2019<\/p>\n
Much of Strasberg\u2019s book is devoted to items collected during his time with the Padres, offering longtime fans a stroll down memory lane. There is a photo from 1975 \u2014 when opening day against San Francisco was delayed not once but twice by rainouts \u2014 coinciding with Strasberg joining the organization.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SUT-L-strasberg-0425-01.jpeg\")
The Padres have had fewer than two dozen rainouts at home over 58 seasons. Two of them came during back-to-back nights to open the 1975 season. (Courtesy Andy Strasberg)<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a signed glove used by first baseman Willie McCovey, an athletic supporter worn (and autographed) by pitcher Fred Norman, an oversized bat Tony Gwynn used in a promotion for his first batting title, a money clip (and $1 bill) from Jerry Coleman and various other items dropped on Strasberg\u2019s desk as the Padres\u2019 \u201cmagnet for memorabilia.\u201d<\/p>\n
At one time, Strasberg was in possession of the mound and rosin bag Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser used the night he broke the record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched against the Padres at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. The mound eventually went to the San Diego Hall of Champions. Several years ago, Strasberg gave the rosin bag to Hershiser.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s on his desk, and it makes him smile,\u201d Strasberg said.<\/p>\n
![\"Bill](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SUT-L-strasberg-0425-02.jpg\")
Bill Russell\u2019s broken bat nearly killed teammate Steve Yeager during a game in 1976. (Courtesy Andy Strasberg)
\nNot-so-splendid splinter<\/p>\n
During a 1976 game against the Dodgers at San Diego Stadium, Padres left-hander Randy Jones was pitching to the Dodgers\u2019 Bill Russell to lead off the seventh inning. The shortstop broke his bat on one pitch and a\u00a0 who broke his bat and a shard hit teammate Steve Yeager in the on-deck circle, piercing the catcher\u2019s throat.<\/p>\n
Yeager was rushed to the hospital, where he had surgery to remove splinters from the life-threatening injury.<\/p>\n
The teams remained on the field to finish the game after the harrowing incident. Afterward, Padres traveling secretary Doc Mattei derisively suggested giving the part of the bat that impaled Yeager to Strasberg \u201cfor his collection.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had washed off the blood, and they gave it to me,\u201d Strasberg said. \u201cI held onto it and didn\u2019t know what I was going to do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the Dodgers hosted the All-Star Game, Strasberg had the bat auctioned off with proceeds going to the Baseball Assistance Team. Yeager played nine more seasons in the major leagues. The incident inspired the invention of the throat guard that became an essential piece of a catcher\u2019s mask.<\/p>\n
![\"Andy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SUT-L-strasberg-0425-03.jpeg\")
Andy Strasberg\u2019s book, \u201cStrasberg\u2019s Base Ball Klediment Tales\u201d includes dozens of items that bring back a lifetime of memories.
\n(Courtesy Andy Strasberg)
\nPick one<\/p>\n
Strasberg collected literally thousands of items over seven decades. What is his favorite? The answer to that came in October of 2003, when the Cedar Fire raced through San Diego County and threatened Strasberg\u2019s East County home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt came within six blocks of my house, and my wife said, \u2018Where do we begin?\u2019 Strasberg said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I picked up the bat that Roger Maris gave me in 1965. I told her this is the most important thing in my collection, so we\u2019re good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the more common laments among sports fans of a certain age is: \u201cI wish my mom…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,1334,74,76,75,127,1696],"class_list":{"0":"post-284542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-latest-headlines","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-san-diego","11":"tag-san-diego-headlines","12":"tag-san-diego-news","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-top-stories-sdut"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}