Special_K19
05-29-2003, 05:39 PM
Thanks for the memories, Bob Hope
Indians celebrate Hope's 100th birthday
By Justice B. Hill / MLB.com
http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2003/05/29/po9KBILk.jpg
Actors Bob Hope (left) and Bing Crosby don the uniforms of their favorite teams in 1947. (Horst Faas/ AP)
CLEVELAND -- "Golf is my profession," comedian Bob Hope had often said. "Show business is just to pay the green fees."
Hope, a sports junkie, was joking -- right? Well, maybe so. But who can really say for certain?
Bob Hope did always seem to have time for sports -- and for the wisecracks that might lighten the mood in this madcap world. Make no mistake, though, he enjoyed his business, which was making folks laugh.
The laughs have been few in recent years, because Hope hasn't been in the spotlight. No more Bob Hope specials on NBC. No more USO tours to entertain American troops. No more visits to ballparks to throw out the first pitch.
Bob Hope just doesn't get around much anymore.
Perhaps that would be asking too much for a man who turns 100 Thursday to still beguile us with his wit, his class and his insights. Instead, we should all stand up, tip our caps and sing: "Thanks for the Memories"!
Bob Hope has given us memories aplenty, too. From You're the Top -- The Cole Porter Story to Spies Like Us, Call Me Bwana and his Road to ...series, Hope was everywhere in the entertainment world throughout the 20th Century. He was actor, boxer, patriot, philanthropist, pool hustler, singer, sportsman and standup comic at one time or another.
While show biz did pay his mortgage, Hope might well have loved sports more. Besides his passion for golf, he liked baseball. He owned a piece of the Indians in the 1940s and '50s.
"He only had a small share -- I think about $15,000," said Hal Lebovitz, a longtime editor and sportswriter who has covered baseball in Cleveland for the past 50-plus years. "But, of course, it was a big story even though the amount was little, because it was Bob Hope."
Hope's stake in the Tribe kept him tied to Cleveland, and he never put too much distance between his hometown team and his Hollywood life.
It is his lifelong connection with Cleveland, where his family immigrated to in 1907, that the city will honor this weekend. The Indians are planning a night of pomp and circumstance to celebrate Hope's 100th birthday. They will give their fans a chance on Friday to thank Bob Hope for the memories.
Hope left the sports landscape here littered with memories. He would jet into town now and again to watch his team play. In Spring Training, he would yak it up with Tribe fans and ballplayers, melding the worlds of Broadway and baseball into one.
"We'd sit on the field -- there was a bench near the dugout -- he'd sit there; the manager would sit there; and I sat there several times," Lebovitz said. "He'd ask a lot of questions. He was just very interested in the players -- and in the game."
That's how Hall-of-Famer Bob Feller, himself a Cleveland icon, remembers Hope and his trips to Tucson, Ariz., where the Tribe trained until 1994.
"I know him from way, way back -- 60 years," Feller said. "He was a golf nut. Bob was a very good golfer, but he was also interested in the baseball team."
Hope's interest in baseball -- and in the Indians -- brought him home in 1993 for the last game at Municipal Stadium, said Bob DiBiasio, the team's vice president of public relations.
"He cut short a trip to Paris just to be part of the final game at Cleveland Stadium," said DiBiasio, who said the Tribe will hand out commemorative prints of Bob Hope. "He added such an incredible sparkle to the whole event. I don't know who else could have done that."
Ask anybody who saw his last performance here, and all still cherish the memory, even if they weren't seeing vintage Hope.
At the old stadium's last act, DiBiasio said Hope's knowledge of the game had impressed him. Hope knew the players from the 1930s through the '60s.
"He always remembered Cleveland fondly, which made him a real hometown hero in that regard," DiBiasio said. "Always, always."
On Friday, Hope's hometown will applaud this giant of show biz for his lifetime achievements. Hope will be one day into his second 100 years, which is reason enough to revere him. But here in Cleveland, Bob Hope is more than a centenarian; he's the hometown boy who made good.
Failing health, however, won't allow Hope to attend his birthday bash. But his spirit will fuel the occasion. It will be Cleveland's time to tell Hope, as best as it can, thanks for the memories.
The city will honor Hope with class, with warmth and with humor, DiBiasio said. Maybe humor should rule the day.
Because can anybody forget Hope's humor -- or his love of sports?
Not hardly!
'I asked my good friend, Arnold Palmer, how I could improve my game," Hope once joked. "He said to me, 'Cheat!'"
Who else could give us a memory better than this one?
Indians celebrate Hope's 100th birthday
By Justice B. Hill / MLB.com
http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2003/05/29/po9KBILk.jpg
Actors Bob Hope (left) and Bing Crosby don the uniforms of their favorite teams in 1947. (Horst Faas/ AP)
CLEVELAND -- "Golf is my profession," comedian Bob Hope had often said. "Show business is just to pay the green fees."
Hope, a sports junkie, was joking -- right? Well, maybe so. But who can really say for certain?
Bob Hope did always seem to have time for sports -- and for the wisecracks that might lighten the mood in this madcap world. Make no mistake, though, he enjoyed his business, which was making folks laugh.
The laughs have been few in recent years, because Hope hasn't been in the spotlight. No more Bob Hope specials on NBC. No more USO tours to entertain American troops. No more visits to ballparks to throw out the first pitch.
Bob Hope just doesn't get around much anymore.
Perhaps that would be asking too much for a man who turns 100 Thursday to still beguile us with his wit, his class and his insights. Instead, we should all stand up, tip our caps and sing: "Thanks for the Memories"!
Bob Hope has given us memories aplenty, too. From You're the Top -- The Cole Porter Story to Spies Like Us, Call Me Bwana and his Road to ...series, Hope was everywhere in the entertainment world throughout the 20th Century. He was actor, boxer, patriot, philanthropist, pool hustler, singer, sportsman and standup comic at one time or another.
While show biz did pay his mortgage, Hope might well have loved sports more. Besides his passion for golf, he liked baseball. He owned a piece of the Indians in the 1940s and '50s.
"He only had a small share -- I think about $15,000," said Hal Lebovitz, a longtime editor and sportswriter who has covered baseball in Cleveland for the past 50-plus years. "But, of course, it was a big story even though the amount was little, because it was Bob Hope."
Hope's stake in the Tribe kept him tied to Cleveland, and he never put too much distance between his hometown team and his Hollywood life.
It is his lifelong connection with Cleveland, where his family immigrated to in 1907, that the city will honor this weekend. The Indians are planning a night of pomp and circumstance to celebrate Hope's 100th birthday. They will give their fans a chance on Friday to thank Bob Hope for the memories.
Hope left the sports landscape here littered with memories. He would jet into town now and again to watch his team play. In Spring Training, he would yak it up with Tribe fans and ballplayers, melding the worlds of Broadway and baseball into one.
"We'd sit on the field -- there was a bench near the dugout -- he'd sit there; the manager would sit there; and I sat there several times," Lebovitz said. "He'd ask a lot of questions. He was just very interested in the players -- and in the game."
That's how Hall-of-Famer Bob Feller, himself a Cleveland icon, remembers Hope and his trips to Tucson, Ariz., where the Tribe trained until 1994.
"I know him from way, way back -- 60 years," Feller said. "He was a golf nut. Bob was a very good golfer, but he was also interested in the baseball team."
Hope's interest in baseball -- and in the Indians -- brought him home in 1993 for the last game at Municipal Stadium, said Bob DiBiasio, the team's vice president of public relations.
"He cut short a trip to Paris just to be part of the final game at Cleveland Stadium," said DiBiasio, who said the Tribe will hand out commemorative prints of Bob Hope. "He added such an incredible sparkle to the whole event. I don't know who else could have done that."
Ask anybody who saw his last performance here, and all still cherish the memory, even if they weren't seeing vintage Hope.
At the old stadium's last act, DiBiasio said Hope's knowledge of the game had impressed him. Hope knew the players from the 1930s through the '60s.
"He always remembered Cleveland fondly, which made him a real hometown hero in that regard," DiBiasio said. "Always, always."
On Friday, Hope's hometown will applaud this giant of show biz for his lifetime achievements. Hope will be one day into his second 100 years, which is reason enough to revere him. But here in Cleveland, Bob Hope is more than a centenarian; he's the hometown boy who made good.
Failing health, however, won't allow Hope to attend his birthday bash. But his spirit will fuel the occasion. It will be Cleveland's time to tell Hope, as best as it can, thanks for the memories.
The city will honor Hope with class, with warmth and with humor, DiBiasio said. Maybe humor should rule the day.
Because can anybody forget Hope's humor -- or his love of sports?
Not hardly!
'I asked my good friend, Arnold Palmer, how I could improve my game," Hope once joked. "He said to me, 'Cheat!'"
Who else could give us a memory better than this one?