Shawn Talbott on baseball cards

Shawn Talbott pitched in the Astros organization from 1985 to 1987. In 92 games, all in relief, he went 8-8 with 22 saves and a 3.63 ERA. Now a PE teacher and softball coach at Farmville Central High School in Farmville, NC, he kindly answered my questions about baseball cards, sharing another baseball story as well.

"I have 2 cards and I cherish them both. I do not collect baseball cards but I do cherish the days that I played professional baseball. The best story that I can tell you is that when I played in Asheville, the bullpen pitchers had a special relationship with one of our fans. He was referred to us as “The Mountain Man”. He was a big burly man that always wore blue overalls and walked with a walking stick. He would walk behind the outfield fence retrieving baseballs that were hit during batting practice before each game. He made a deal with the bullpen pitchers that if we would leave 4 balls at the base of a tree, behind the dugout, in the woods, he would exchange them for a bag of moon pies and candy bars. No one knew about this deal other than the bullpen pitchers. It was something that the bullpen looked forward to every home game and fun to keep the secret only in the bullpen. The position players and starting pitchers couldn’t figure out where we were getting the snacks from. Apparently, he had been doing this for years!!!"

Thanks!