feature
Room To Show
By Mark Hayden
Whether it’s a sports-oriented bedroom, office or game room, Memphians tend to be as passionate about their sports as the next guy or gal. Two cases kick off our “mancave” spotlight this month: a die-hard Tennessee fan and a sports memorabilia collector.
Much of Donnie Heitner’s baseball collection came from his time working around baseball card shows years ago in Phoenix. “A friend of mine was the promoter of the show,” he said. “Many times I’d go to dinner with some of the players or sit at the autograph tables and get to know some of them on a more personal basis.”
That’s where he met Hall of Famers Warren Spahn, Lou Brock, Steve Carlton and Don Drysdale, and where his autographed baseball collection started. He added more signatures to his collection when the Memphis Redbirds hosted an annual golf tournament several years ago.
While Heitner carries various World Series memories from his years following the Atlanta Braves, he’s always been a Yankees fan at heart. He grew up in New York and shared a number of games at the ballpark with his dad. The first game he can remember is the 1969 New York Old-Timers’ Game when Mickey Mantle’s uniform number was retired. At the game, the Yanks were giving away 8-by-11 wall photos of Mantle. As a youngster he proudly tacked it to the wall; now he wonders how he could’ve been so careless. He began collecting baseball cards in the 60s and has never lost them. His only horror story is self-inflicting.
“I started collecting in 1964, and I’ve still got them all,” he said. But for some reason, he painted a certain rookie card green. Not an ordinary rookie card, mind you. It was a Pete Rose rookie card, no doubt. He painted the back of the card green – and over the years the color has bled to the front. Why Pete Rose?
“I don’t know why,” said a befuddled Heitner. “It’s pretty funny looking, though. I guess I didn’t think it’d be worth something, someday.”
Heitner also follows the hometown Grizzlies, but his top passion in sports lies with the UT Vols. A sports dilemma presented itself to him in March when the men’s team advanced to St. Louis while the ladies advanced to Memphis in their respective regionals. Any other weekend, he would’ve stayed home to support the Lady Vols, but missing the Big Orange play wasn’t an option.
It’s that same UT passion he has that commands center stage in his home office. Much of his room is filled with items from the hard-court, but football is still represented. Nearby, a plaque celebrates the Lady Volunteers six national championships along with an autographed picture taken with coaches Pat Summitt and Bruce Pearl.
But his top memory goes to the pigskin program. “The date was Jan. 4, 1999,” he says as though it’s been hermetically etched into his brain. The 13-0 Volunteers won the national football championship that year and the game’s scorecard, ticket and pennant and the season’s media guide are framed for all to see.
While Brian Shainberg might not be
as big of a fan as Heitner, he has plenty of memorabilia stocked in his small
East Memphis home. Known to many from his days as a greeter at Ike’s, Shainberg
who now works downtown collects team calendars, Olympic pins and Memphis
Redbird bobbleheads. He has also collected Olympic Game pins from the since the
2002 Salt Lake City Games and pins commemorating NBC’s coverage of the Olympics
since 1996.
Just like Heitner’s autographed photo collection of former baseball and basketball stars, Shainberg’s set of Redbird bobblehead dolls is equally impressive. He can show any casual fan that virtually the entire Cardinal team came through Memphis’ Auto Zone Park – from Yadier Molina to Albert Pujols and from Adam Wainwright to Colby Rasmus. He’s got fan favorites Stubby Clapp and John Gall, and former play-by-play announcer Tom Stocker and current anchor Steve Selby frozen in the moment in their broadcast booth. Making a well-rounded collection, Shainberg even has an Elvis bobblehead from the Grizzlies, a Globetrotters’ bobblehead and a few Riverking’s players.
“I just enjoyed collecting them,” he said of the Redbird give-a-ways. “It’s neat just knowing that so many major league players have played here.”
Mark Hayden has written about Memphis sports for a variety of magazines. If you have a sports memorabilia collection or other interesting sports story that you would like to share with Jewish Scene readers, please e-mail Mark at marktn58@aol.com.
