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We’re very happy to announce that Matt Dahlgren, the grandson of major league ball player Babe Dahlgren, has joined us on Old-Time Baseball Photos as a contributor. As many of you are aware, Babe Dahlgren was the man who replaced Lou Gehrig. Matt’s first contribution is below, in slightly edited form. (The entire article and the letters cited can be read at Matt’s web site: https://mattdahlgren12.wordpress.com/2017/08/17/fan-mail/):
Babe Dahlgren and His Fan Mail
One of my favorite things to do as a boy was to sit in my grandfather’s chair and read his fan mail. He received fan mail every week until the day he died in 1996. Every so often, there’d be a letter on lined paper that recounted a particular hit, a dazzling play around first base or even an exchange between them like, “I remember the time you said hello to me outside the stadium. I’ll never forget it.” These were memories seared into that particular person’s mind. These were true fans and my grandfather took great pride in responding to every letter.
Since the inception of the game, young boys and girls have written letters to their favorite ball players, and these flannel clad fellows would try to uphold their duty as role models and write a pithy response. If these kids were lucky, a faceless mail carrier would stuff their mailbox with a return envelope making them feel very special, like 15-year-old Roger Barry from Weymouth, Mass must have felt.
A few years ago, while searching on eBay, I found three letters for sale that my grandfather had written to Barry in 1935. Given my passion for reading his fan mail (letters written to him) I jumped at the chance to read something he wrote to a fan. I bid on the letters and now own them.
Boston writers were talking about the good-looking young kid named Babe Dahlgren from San Francisco who was stepping into first base for the Red Sox. Upon reading the letters, it became apparent that young Roger Barry must have been a first baseman himself and was hoping Boston’s rookie first sacker might offer some tips. My grandfather’s letters were full of advice on how to play the bag, select a bat and even shared his thoughts on the proper attitude. I felt good knowing that my grandfather took the time to write such detailed letters to a young kid who looked up to him – something I watched him do in his later years from his desk at home. I realized after reading these letters that Babe Dahlgren was no different at 22 than he was at 84 when he passed away – he loved talking about baseball and helping young kids anyway he could.
The letters inspired me to look-up Roger Barry. It led me to an obituary that was written by Dick Trust of the Patriot Ledger in 2012 after Barry had passed away at the age of 92. Roger Barry had been a beloved sportswriter spanning five decades for the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Massachusetts. He had a passion for golf, and was the president of the Golf Writers Association of America for many years. He was even on a first name basis with Palmer and Nicklaus. But there was one line in particular that Dick Trust wrote that stood out. It read: “Roger spoke to little guys like me and giants of the sports world like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player.” Spoke to little guys…
I can’t help but wonder if the thoughtful letters my grandfather sent to Roger Barry when he was a “little guy” had a small part in nurturing his love of sports and shaping the writer and man he’d one day become.
-Matt Dahlgren
*Matt Dahlgren is the author of Rumor In Town and the novel, The Flannel Past. He can be followed on Twitter: @mattdahlgren12 or at mattdahlgren.com
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