CLEVELAND — The bricks came up, one by one. The fans lined up, one by one.
Sold in the 90s to help finance the Bob Feller statue outside the stadium, these bricks have come to the end of the line. Names were printed on them and set in place. But decades later, some are uneven or cracked, so the Guardians gave fans the chance to take them home.
Bob Paulson waited in line Friday and picked up two bricks — one with his name and his wife’s name, the other with the names of their daughters.
“They’re married, and we have 4 grandchildren; they’re baseball fans,” Mr. Paulson said. “I just didn’t want to let the bricks go. I wanted to come down, stand in line, and get ‘em. It was very worthwhile to us.”
The bricks are old and weathered, but the memories they hold are strong and fresh. They held the names of parents no longer with us, of children who have grown and have children of their own, names people would recognize, like Tom Hanks, Herb Score and Rocco Scotti.
Bob DiBiasio worked for the franchise for decades. He picked up his brick, too, and the memories came rushing back.
“Some wonderful names of people," he said. "The history of this franchise.“
And its fans, who made that history with the team, inning by inning and brick by brick.
Bob Feller bricks reach end of their useful life, Guardians say
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