To understand their love of baseball, look no further than their grandfathers.
Allie Utley’s grandfather, the late Dick Davis, would watch Kansas City Royals games with his granddaughter when she was still a toddler. He’d share nuggets about his favorite players, and his favorite sport.
Her grandfather’s life “was a tapestry of dedication, passion and an unwavering love for the game of baseball, especially for one of its greatest legends, Walter Johnson,” Utley said.
Likewise, Hank Thomas, Winchester, Va., learned a thing or three about baseball because his grandfather, Walter Johnson of Humboldt, was inarguably one of the greatest pitchers the sport has ever produced.
Thomas’s infatuation and admiration grew to the point he authored a biography on his grandfather in 1998: “Walter Johnson: Baseball’s Big Train.” It helped that he had as his source material a generation’s worth of scrapbooks his grandmother had put together through the years, filled with photos, clippings and other baseball artifacts.
As fate would have it, the book was released about the same time Davis was at the forefront of several local projects to honor Johnson locally, including placing a monument noting his birthplace north of town, and erecting a billboard along U.S. 169, touting Humboldt’s connection to the baseball legend.
The dual efforts inevitably connected Davis and Thomas, “and we became the dearest of friends,” Thomas recalled.
Fast forward more than 20 years, when Utley noted her grandfather’s billboard had begun to show signs of age.
She spearheaded a project, which was finished last summer, to replace the billboard with a gleaming new display, complete with a photo of Johnson, arranged to look like a vintage baseball card.
Utley also found Thomas’s phone number while looking through some of her grandfather’s old files, and figured she’d give him a call, partly to get his blessing on the effort, but just as much to keep in touch.
As “the most visible family member” of Johnson, Thomas has fielded calls like hers before, usually asking for some form of licensing approval.
But Utley’s call was different, he quickly realized.
“Oh my gosh,” Thomas said. “She has ‘the bug,’” as he described Utley’s inherited, inherent love of baseball.
“I liked her immediately,” he said. “At 22 years old, and of course her connection with Dick Davis, cemented it. I knew she was for real.”
Thomas, age 78, then said he was hit with an epiphany.
An assortment of health issues in recent years have brought with them “the accompanying inevitable inclinations of mortality,” he chuckled.
This meant taking stock not only of his life, but of his belongings.
Having never been married, and with no children of his own, Thomas has had to figure out what to do with his various “hand-me-down” heirlooms, including a treasure trove of scrapbooks and other memorabilia related to his grandfather.
THEIR conversations continued, even after Utley finished the billboard restoration.
And when Thomas learned Utley would be visiting the East Coast recently for a separate matter, the answer to one of his questions — what to do with his baseball artifacts — became crystal clear.
While in the area, why not stop by his house, he suggested, to take the items back to Kansas.
The mere suggestion sent Utley’s mind a spinnin’.
She immediately devised thoughts of a baseball museum, celebrating not just Walter Johnson, but other local baseball legends, including Humboldt’s George Sweatt, a Negro Leagues star from a century ago, and even LaHarpe native Ad Brennen, who pitched in the Majors from 1910 to 1918.
After a long “heart-to-heart” conversation with Thomas, Utley accepted his invitation.
She and her parents, Curtis and Amy Utley, spent last weekend as Thomas’s houseguests.
On top of loading a large U-Haul truck with his entire collection of boxes of baseball history, Thomas also gave the Utleys a tour of Walter Johnson High School in nearby Bethesda, Md.
The high school isn’t necessarily named after his grandfather because of his baseball exploits, Thomas explained, but because of his contributions as a county commissioner and then congressional candidate.
“He did a lot of things for the community,” Thomas said.
Thomas also introduced the Utleys to a few of his fellow baseball historians, including Bruce Adams, the founding general manager of the Bethesda Big Train, a semi-pro baseball team named in honor of Walter Johnson’s nickname. Their ball park features a sculpture of Johnson and famed sports columnist Shirley Povich.
“It’s a wonderful legacy,” Thomas said.
The baseball tour also included a stop by Walter Johnson’s grave site at Rockville Cemetery in nearby Rockville, Md.
Johnson was born Nov. 6, 1897, on a farm about 4 miles northwest of Humboldt. He and his family moved to California when he was a teenager.
He was spotted by a talent scout and signed a contract with the Washington Senators in 1907 at the age of 19.
He played his entire 21-year career with the Senators, winning 417 games and racked up 3,508 strikeouts.
He won 20 games in a season 12 times, including 10 in a row, and led the usually downtrodden Senators to the 1924 World Series.
He retired from playing baseball in 1927.
UTLEY already has been in touch with the Humboldt Historical Society while formulating ideas for a baseball museum.
“We really haven’t even started to come up with a plan yet,” she said. “The main focus up until this point was to get items to see what they have. And there are some very cool items.”
Utley, who lives in Overland Park and works for the ACLU, considers the museum project a worthy “side-quest.”
“It’s been fun learning about the items, and about museums, and of course learning about baseball,” she said. “It’s been fun to do it with my family, and now his.”
Thomas stressed his gift was offered with no strings attached.
“I told her ‘I don’t care what you do with any of it,’” he said. “I really don’t. I don’t want her to feel any responsibility in terms of what she does or what she manages to put together. If all she does is keep them to herself, I’m OK with that.”
“He wasn’t very emotional about it,” Utley agreed. “I think it’s been more emotional for me. This is definitely the most personal project I’ve ever taken part in. There’s a lot of honor in that somebody would trust me with his belongings like that.”
Thomas reiterated his comfort in knowing the artifacts are in good hands.
Despite their 52-year age difference, Thomas said his bond with Utley was instant.
“When you connect with somebody so directly, you feel it,” Thomas said. “You just can’t help it. That’s what happened to us, as far as I was concerned. Meeting her just confirmed and reinforced that.”
“This is something unique that binds us together,” Utley said. “I can’t say enough good things about Hank. He’s almost like a paternal grandfather. I feel extremely fortunate to get to know him.”
AS AN ASIDE, Utley and Thomas both noted Walter Johnson baseball memorabilia can fetch a tidy sum among collectors, including a jersey that was auctioned off earlier this month for $4 million.
There’s nothing remotely with that sort of dollar value among his belongings, Thomas said.
Handmade scrapbooks and clippings fit more under the “tschotske”-style artifacts, or those with more sentimental or historic value than monetary.
The family had already parted with some of his most valuable artifacts years ago, when Thomas’s mother was nearing the end of her life and needed extensive home care.
“A couple of people have asked me, ‘How could you let that stuff go?’” Thomas said. “I figured why just keep it stored in a closet and then haul it out every couple of years to show to people.
“I know exactly what my grandfather would have said,” he continued. “He would have said, ‘Sell it, take care of Sis.’”
“Sis” was what Johnson affectionately called his daughter, Thomas’s mother.
That said, “there are some really great photos,” Thomas quickly added. “Stuff that would make a wonderful display somewhere.”
Thomas offered the artifacts after discussing it with his sister and other relatives, who agreed the items would be an apt gift to Utley.
“You know, sometimes in the course of everything I’ve done related to my grandfather I’ve had the feeling some things aren’t just happenstance,” Thomas said. “Many things have happened that might seem serendipitous at first glance. But I’ve had a very strong feeling — not to be too mystical — that sometimes we were a part of some larger agenda that wasn’t being directed by me.
“I think meeting Allie is an example of that.”
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