This Eddie Gaedel statue was unveiled at the Society’s 2013 Third Annual Meeting at O’Doul’s Irish Grille & Pub in Spokane WA on August 19. 2013.
The plaque on the above featured statue reads as follows:
EDDIE GAEDEL
ST. LOUIS BROWNS
AUGUST 19, 2013
SR. PAULA TURNBULL, S.N.J.M.
ARTIST
EDDIE GAEDEL SOCIETY SPOKANE CHAPTER #1
O’DOHERTY’S IRISH PUB
AUGUST 19, 2013
Like the little big man it honors, The Eddie Gaedel Society, Spokane Chapter #1 sprang up like an overnight not-too-high ascending mushroom in the larger world of baseball joy back in 2011. One imaginative good fellow named Tom Keefe of Spokane, Washington was its founding father and he remains to this day in the to-the-edges-of-significance in baseball history, the organization’s only president.
We first heard from Tom Keefe last month, August 25, 2014, after he surfed his way onto our blog column archives at The Pecan Park Eagle and discovered “The Ballad of Eddie Gaedel” that we wrote years ago and published here for the first time on April 24, 2010.
“I hope we can get the crowd to sing this at next year’s 5th annual meeting of the Eddie Gaedel Society, Spokane Chapter #1 at O’Doherty’s Irish Grille and Pub here in Spokane (on August 19,2015),” Keefe wrote. “Eddie (Gaedel) deserves to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame!” Well, even if you personally have some misgivings about any player going into the Hall of Fame whose only active history was one plate appearance and a four-ball walk, real blue-root baseball fans will hardly argue with O’Keefe’s passion for the idea of baseball honoring its smallest competitor of all time for his perfect record. Gaedel the batter never struck out, but how could he have done so? He never even saw a called or missed swinging strike. Our cultural angst among the purists, we humbly shall argue, is best summed up in these lines from our “The Ballad of Eddie Gaedel:”
Oh, how the purists hated,
Adding little Eddie’s name,
To the big book of records,
“Gaedel” bore a blush of shame!
Now when you look up records,
Look up Eddie’s O.B.P.!
It reads a cool One Thousand,
Safe for all eternity.
Today I find myself happily drafted as the first Texas delegate member of The Eddie Gaedel Society, Spokane Chapter #1. As such, I have accepted and since received a lot of written information on the club, plus my very own membership tee shirt and card, compliments of President Tom Keefe. In return, I will do what I am able here in Houston to spread awareness to others about the benefits of belonging to The Eddie Gaedel Society, Spokane Chapter #1. As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one over-riding reason to belong to any baseball cause support group and that is this – Does belonging to the organization contribute to my joy in life in general and to my joyful memories of the sandlot days in particular? I don’t have time for anything that turns play into work – or joy into agony – but the Gaedel Movement sounds like nothing shy of adventure.
And to me, Tom Keefe and his Gaedelians sound like fun. – Let the recess from all strife begin – and let it last forever, whether I can get to O’Doherty’s next August 19th – or not – and I hope I can make it. Whether I do, or not, please accept my hope and best wishes for a group singing of “The Ballad of Eddie Gaedel” by The Eddie Gaedel Society, Spokane Chapter #1 next August 19th – or at any other time the group convenes to lift a few and toast the man. Also, let me know if you need any coaching on matching the lyrics with the melody.
For more information on the Eddie Gaedel Society and get in touch with President Tom Keefe. You will find Keefe’s contact info at the website.
BOOK SIGNING TONIGHT! Have a nice Tuesday, everybody – and if you are in Houston tonight, drop by the Brazos Bookstore on Bissonett at 7:00 PM. Mike Vance, Bob Dorrill, and I will be there to discuss and sign sold copies of our new book, “Houston Baseball: The Early Years, 1861-1961.”
Houston, Baseball, & Other Musings.
The Pecan Park Eagle 