In Search of Baseball Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn

Family Connections Lead to a "Search" for the Hall of Famer's Nebraska Roots

Richie Asbhurn is an inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame and a former Philadelphia Phillies great in the 1940s and 50s. He then went on to a three decade career as Phillies broadcaster.

I never met Richie, never cheered for Richie, and he wasn't my childhood idol. Until recently, I didn't follow Richie's career. 

But because of a brief fling as a baseball card collector a few years back, I discovered Richie and I had something in common--we were both born in Tilden, Nebraska, a small town of about 1,500 about 30 miles west of Norfolk.

Further, my mom, Eva Belle, and many of her sisters, knew Richie. Richie was from the Tilden High Class of '44, my mom from the class of '45.

So, I have become a fan of Richie's after his death in 1997.

It is funny how you take someone into your life that you never knew. I guess we all want some sort of "brush with greatness." Richie, also known as Putt-Putt and Whitey, was a .308 lifetime hitter, a five time all-star, and played in one of baseball's golden eras. Plus, he knew my mom.

I asked my mom what memories she had of Don Richard Ashburn (his full name). I expected her to regale me with stories of him taking her to the prom, or scoring the winning basket against hated rival Neligh, or that he was a gentleman and a scholar.

Her answer: "He used to climb up the tree in our yard and tried to catch a look at me and my sisters in our bedrooms."

Not quite the answer I was looking for, but hey, he was just a kid like everybody else. I guess he was a red-blooded Nebraska small town guy, despite his athletic prowess.

Last week, while on a trip to Columbus, NE via Tilden and a stop to place flowers on my grand parent's Micah and Sarah James' grave for Memorial Day, I thought I'd try and pursue my fellow Tildenite. I had read that the local drug store had a "shrine" to the great outfielder and I'd pay my respects and take some pictures.

Like when I asked my mom about Richie, I was disappointed.

The druggist/owner politely told me, "Oh, we took that down a couple years ago. It's going to be a room in the new toy museum that's going in at the end of the block."

Damn.