19 August 2013

carl sawatski memorial patch

former major leaguer carl sawatski served as the president of the texas league from 1976 through 1991.  after he died in november of 1991, the league decided that its players would wear a patch in sawatski's honor during the 1992 season.

here is mike busch's 1992 classic best card showcasing the 'ces' patch in sawatski's honor (his middle name was ernest).
i've also got a steve dixon card from the set showing the patch
and a derek reid, too
but the busch card is the one in the memorial binder.

sawatski had been a member of the 1957 world champion milwaukee braves and retired after 11 seasons in the major leagues.  a quick review of his stats at baseball reference shows that he hit two home runs in a game twice in his career, with the first time coming against the reds' don newcombe.  he also took don drysdale deep three times over the course of the 1961 season.  sawatski passed away from leukemia, which had been diagnosed six months prior.

this is the only (to date) minor league memorial in my collection.  it was not listed on the hall of fame's website where i found my original list of memorials, and i only learned of it because of busch's card being in my dodger collection.

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