Baseball

Craig Counsell

Craig Counsell played 16 seasons winning two World Series rings with the Florida Marlins in 1997 and with the Diamondbacks in 2001. Craig was known for his heroics in the 2001 Postseason with his bat and glove ending up with the NLCS MVP in '01. Craig also is one of the best defensive 2nd baseman in recent history also Craig best known for his interesting batting stances. Craig now works in the Milwaukee Brewers front office. I called Craig to ask him if he will sign my jersey, he ended up calling me the next morning saying he will be waiting for it when I send it to Milwaukee. Craig is truly a nice person to take time out of their day to call me and say he will be waiting for the jersey to come in. Craig's a terrific athlete and a great person.


Luis Gonzalez

Luis "Gonzo" Gonzalez is remembered through his heroics in the 2001 World Series when the Arizona Diamondbacks dethroned the 3 time defending champion NY Yankees. But Gonzo has a lot more career highlights other than the most recognizable one. He played 19 seasons in the majors playing for the Astros, Cubs, Tigers, Diamondbacks, Dodgers and the Florida Marlins. He posted a batting average of .283 with 354 homers and 596 doubles during that period. He is also a 5 time all star, the 2005 ML Branch Rickey Award winner and the 2001 world champion. Gonzo is one of only 17 players in Major League history to collect at least 2,500 hits, 500 doubles, 350 home runs and 1,000 RBIs.  And in 2010 the Arizona Diamondbacks retired his #20 forever. Gonzo remains the most popular Diamondback in history and I hope one day he will have a plaque Cooperstown.


Ian Kennedy

Ian Kennedy is still currently playing but he is playing for the San Diego Padres. He's played 7 seasons in the big leagues till' this point, he played for the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks and the Padres. He has 51-39 career win lose record with an ERA of 3.96 also with 728 strikeouts. His best season in the majors was in 2011 when he had a 21-4 record an ERA of 2.88 and 198 strikeouts with the Diamondbacks. Also he was 4th in the National League Cy Young voting. He is one of my favorite players that use to play with the D'backs and he still has a lot left in the tank to get that Cy Young award.


Tony Clark

Tony Clark played 15 years in the major leagues playing for 6 different teams. Such as the Diamondbacks, Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers and Padres. He batted .262 with 251 Home Runs with 824 RBIs through 15 seasons. Also some memorable highlights like hitting 3 home runs against the Blue Jays and playing in 2001 All Star game. I first met Tony at Chase Field he wasn't a player but was now works for the MLB Players Association. He signed autographs and met with the players on both teams then he came over and signed autographs with the fans. He signed my baseball and program then I asked him if I can have an address to send more stuff to him. He gave me his business card and in the past year we talked about my museum and baseball. He is one of my favorite players and I hope to see a plague in Cooperstown of him.


Stan Lopata

He played for the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers from 1948 to 1960. He had a career batting average of .254 with 116 homers and two all-star appearances in 55' and 56'. Also he was apart of the 1950 Whiz Kids who made it to the world series but fell short in a sweep against the New York Yankees. But he is a special person to me because my school teacher caught him before moving back to Philly in early 2013. Also it would be his last year of his life, he past away June 15, 2013 with heart complications. It is unfortunate that a legend of his era past away and I hope to preserve it forever.