Black and Gold: Maz's room: Retired teacher has turned an unused bedroom into a shrine to a moment -- and a man

Monday, August 30, 2010

Maz's room: Retired teacher has turned an unused bedroom into a shrine to a moment -- and a man

Saturday, August 28, 2010
By Robert Dvorchak, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/

Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette

Over the years, Chuck Bogorae, 60, of Brownsville, collected memorabilia that Mazeroski had autographed -- more than 250 items in all.

In an unused bedroom that has been transformed into a sanctuary, time stands still.

Taking up one entire wall is an image taken on Oct. 13, 1960. The Forbes Field scoreboard displays the numbers of a deadlocked game in the bottom of the ninth inning, with its Longines clock frozen at 3:36 p.m.

Bill Mazeroski follows through on his swing, and a baseball is suspended in flight toward the 406-foot mark in left center field.

That iconic image is autographed by the man at the plate who lifted the Pirates and their followers to such heights that the moment is still talked about 50 years later. But also carrying his signature are various jerseys, bats, balls, a second base bag, photographs, commemorative plates, posters, books, bobbleheads and memorabilia of every stripe adorning the other three walls.

"I would probably need a fire hall to display all the stuff that I've had signed by Maz over the years," said Chuck Bogorae, 60, a retired teacher from Brownsville, Fayette County, who nurtures his lifelong love for baseball by collecting souvenirs honoring a man and a moment.

"We're just a Maz household here."

To underscore the point, Joanne Bogorae, his wife and high school sweetheart, noted that they once had a Chihuahua named Maz. And their new dog, also a Chihuahua, is a female named Mazzie Mae.

They never planned to dedicate a room to a Hall of Fame baseball player who has a street named for him outside PNC Park, where his statue will be dedicated on Sept. 5. It just kind of evolved after Mr. Bogorae, a lifelong Pirates fan, started collecting memorabilia about 25 years ago.

The items weren't even exhibited until about eight years ago when the couple's son, Michael, moved out of his room and left for college. The second-floor bedroom evolved into something more than just a place to display things. It became almost a shrine to a coal miner's son who grew up in the community of Pike Mine, Ohio.

"My mother was a big baseball fan. She'd listen to Rosey Rowswell broadcast the Pirate games on the radio. That's where I got my love for the game," Mr. Bogorae said.

The day the Pirates defeated the Yankees in seven games for their first World Series win in 35 years, there was lots of excitement in the Bogorae household over Maz's home run.

"I was in grade school, so it didn't sink in right away. My mom had lived through the losing seasons, so when the Pirates finally won, she was flying high. It was like we hit the lottery that day," he said.

"To win that game with the type of home run that had never been hit before and has never been hit since makes it that much more special."

Like most kids, Mr. Bogorae collected baseball cards. Nobody had an inkling that those cards would be worth a lot of money some day, and his collection was discarded. About 25 years ago, he thought about collecting cards again, but there were too many brands on the market. He decided, instead, to gather autographs, beginning with that of former Pirates pitcher Bob Veale.

Then he started collecting photographs with the autographs, concentrating on players from the championship teams of 1960, 1971 and 1979. Along the way, he happened to get Mr. Mazeroski to sign an item. And before long, he picked up more and more things related to the second baseman who never played for anyone but the Pirates in his 17-year career and who was a seven-time All-Star and the winner of eight Gold Gloves.

"I found who I wanted to get behind," said Mr. Bogorae. "I could always relate to Maz. He was what I thought a ballplayer should be. If you wanted someone to look up to, he was a guy you could cheer for.

"His dad was a coal miner, and so was mine. He did everything we did as kids. He tossed rocks into the air and hit them with a broomstick handle. We were taught to play the game the way he played it, to win with class and lose with dignity. He was so down to earth, so humble, so soft-spoken. He was a man of few words, but a genuine, honest person. He was one of us."

Mr. Bogorae would buy a jersey here or a bat there. Anything that had something to do with Mr. Mazeroski was added to the collection, including a poster of Maz when he played minor league ball for the Hollywood Stars. He also found a picture of Maz's first glove, an Early Wynn model that he purchased with money he earned digging the hole for an outhouse for his Uncle Ogden.

On the Internet, he found old photographs from the archives of United Press International. One shows Maz with his mother serving a turkey dinner. Another shows Maz and his wife, Milene, at the birth of their first child.

Then Mr. Bogorae would get each item personalized.

"Any time Maz was signing autographs at a memorabilia show, I'd go see him. Sometimes, I'd have 10 or 12 items that I wanted him to sign," he said.

As a fan, Mr. Bogorae wrote letters to the Veterans Committee in support of Mr. Mazeroski's candidacy for the Hall of Fame. He saved the letters and responses he got from the late Ted Williams. And when the induction was finally approved in 2001, Mr. Bogorae and his wife drove to Cooperstown, N.Y., to hear the most unusual acceptance speech in Hall of Fame history.

Mr. Mazeroski got about three minutes into his talk before he was overcome with emotion and couldn't continue through the sobs.

"That was Maz. Everybody knew he wasn't going to be able to finish. He had Hall of Famers crying. It was the perfect speech," Mr. Bogorae said. "To him, hitting that home run was like catching a big fish, and he feels that people are still making too much of it. I don't know if he realizes how many hearts he touched."

Mr. Bogorae will be at the dedication of the Mazeroski statue, which is being erected at the end of Mazeroski Way. He also plans to attend the Oct. 13 replay of the Game 7 broadcast as fans gather at the last remaining portion of the Forbes Field wall in Oakland.

He doesn't claim to have the largest Mazeroski collection or to be the only fan collecting stuff.

"I'm sure there are other people who are just as crazy as I am," Mr. Bogorae said. "This room is a shrine to Maz, but it's also a good place to spend some quiet time, to watch the Pirate games on TV or just to sit and relax."

Mr. Bogorae has no idea of the monetary value of the items in the room.

"I don't know what it's worth," he said. "I'll never sell any of it. I'm not in it for that."