A lot of companies want to help baseball fans celebrate Babe Ruth's 100th birthday.
"I spend probably five hours a day with people who have products they want us to carry in the gift shop," says Babe Ruth Museum controller Tom Koehler. He has taken on gift shop duties since the employee who had handled them was laid off because of the baseball strike.
Koehler says the museum has viewed the centennial as culminating with the birthday celebration and has been selling centennial merchandise for the past year.
"I think everybody's getting on the bandwagon late," he says, showing memorabilia prototypes he has received. Koehler says that these companies appear to be starting the centennial with Ruth's birthday.
In addition to its own line of collectibles (clothing, bats and balls), the museum is selling clothing and facsimile-autographed balls from Anaconda, a limited-edition lithograph by Jeff Wilkinson, Red Rock Cola cans with copies of Red Rock ads Ruth appeared in, etched bottles of de-alcoholized wine from Trevlin and phone cards from TeleTrading Card.
Not all the memorabilia passes muster.
"I had a cigar company contact me and they may still be doing it," Koehler says. "They wanted to do a 100th anniversary cigar." The museum found that inappropriate because Ruth, a cigar smoker, died of throat cancer in 1948.
Curtis Management Group has issued 23 licenses for centennial merchandise, including clocks, steins, crystal, trading cards and mouse pads.
Collectors thinking about shopping at home can check out the museum and centennial merchandise on QVC tomorrow between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Call the museum at (410) 727-1539.
Birthday postmark
Baltimore's post office has issued a pictorial postmark for Ruth's centennial. There will be a temporary postal station at the Babe Ruth Museum, 216 Emory St., tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., where the cancellation can be applied to any item that has first-class postage. Mail-order requests must be postmarked by March 6. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope or postcard with the request and send to: Babe Ruth Station, Main Office Window Services, USPS, 900 E. Fayette St., Baltimore, MD 21233-9715.
CFL source
Colts Corral No. 27, of Severna Park, has Baltimore CFL merchandise -- Grey Cup programs, T-shirts, caps, die-cast trucks and trading cards. According to Marc Lombardi, the Corral has sold 210 sets of CFL cards. Some proceeds from all sales benefit area charities. Call Lombardi at (410) 544-8240.
Classic Fall Classics
Pro Insignia offers collectors two World Series championships on bats -- the 1966 Orioles and the 1961 New York Yankees. The bats are regulation-size Adirondack 302 models, stamped with the trademark used from 1961 to 1967. Each bat features the team logo from that era and the scores from all the games. Bats are $55 each plus $5 shipping. Call (800) 533-0726.
Metal hockey cards
This month, Highland Mint will begin issuing metal replicas of Pinnacle hockey cards in bronze, silver and gold. For the past 2 1/2 years, Highland Mint had produced metal versions of Topps hockey cards. As a result of the agreement with Pinnacle, mintages of the Topps cards ended Nov. 16, and unsold inventory will be destroyed by Feb. 16.
Coming events
Today, Baltimore Colt Reunion Show and Auction, Holiday Inn-Cromwell Bridge, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., (expected signers include Jimmy Orr, Raymond Berry, Ordell Braase, Art Donovan, Lenny Moore, Jim Parker and Gino Marchetti, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.), auction at 3 p.m., (410) 866-3366.
Today, card show, Baltimore Hebrew Congregation (7401 Park Heights Ave., Straus Social Hall), 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. (admission $1.50 or two cans of food), (410) 484-5069 days or (410) 653-2762 nights.
Through Sept. 5, "Babe Ruth: An Artistic Perspective," Babe Ruth Museum, 216 Emory St., (410) 727-1539.
Thursday-next Sunday, NBA Jam Session, Phoenix Civic Plaza, (602) 379-SLAM.
Friday-next Sunday, card show, Harundale Mall (expected signers include Harold Baines, Walter Wilson, O. J. Brigance), Friday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., next Sunday noon to 5 p.m., (410) 760-5052.
CARD OF THE WEEK
Each card in Action Packed's All-Madden Team carries a plastic bandage logo. There are 41 cards, and each has also been produced in a 24-karat version. Each pack includes a game card for a contest whose grand prize is a big-screen TV. This is the team Madden picked in 1994. (Shown is Phil Simms.)