A two-hundred dollar a plate dinner? I don’t think so. That was my first reaction even with one of my childhood heroes, Steve Yeager, as guest speaker at the 18th annual BC Baseball Hot Stove Dinner on Jan. 21 at the Veterans Hall in Oildale.
However, as I witnessed the volunteers from all walks of life here in Bakersfield, from Kern Counties Firefighters Union 1301 to sponsors like IVS Computers and Clifford & Bradford Insurance, I started wondering why so many people are interested in helping the BC baseball program.
“Bakersfield is the greatest community in the world when it comes to raising money to help kids,” said founder of the Light Brigade George Culver, a BC baseball graduate and nine-year major-league baseball player who pitched a no-hitter.
Culver points out that regardless of individual motivation to help, everyone from the volunteers to those paying for dinner were extremely excited that Yeager was part of the event. Yeager created an atmosphere that was full of smiles and laughter that filled the room all night.
The first hot stove dinner 18 years ago helped bring lights to the BC baseball diamond. From there, the Light Brigade went on to bring a clubhouse, dugouts and has donated to local little leagues and the Boys & Girls Club, to name a few. This year’s dinner raised money to replace the bleachers that have been there since the late 1950s.
These good deeds and the chance to meet the 28 members of this year’s team and, oh, yes, meeting Yeager was enough to entice you pay up for the tickets.
In addition to the dinner, an auction helped create more funds to replace the seats at BC. If you did not have the $700 for the highest bid on an autographed ball or the $2,800 for a tour trip for four through Dodgers Stadium, including meeting players, you could at least view items that you have to go to a convention to view. There were boxing gloves signed by Oscar De La Hoya, old Dodger stadium bleacher seats, hats, bats, lithographs signed by players like Sandy Koufax, Barry Bonds and Pete Rose. Yeager personally signed a couple hundred items that ranged from balls to a catchers mask.
Yeager was one of the best defensive catchers in baseball and was co-MVP in the 1981 World Series for the Dodgers. His career in the majors was from 1972-86, and he had 102 home runs, 410 RBIs and a batting average of .228. The Dodgers made the playoffs six times and the World Series four during that time.
Yeager was most known for his candidness and slapstick humor. He retold a story at the dinner about when he was catching during a game and he asked the batter, “How is your wife and my kids?”
In addition to getting attention from the batters anyway he could, Yeager also got the attention of many woman with his centerfold spread in Playgirl magazine.
“I believe if your not cheating, you’re not trying to win,” Yeager joked with the BC players before the dinner. But on a serious note, while referring to his Dodger teammates, he added, “We had guys that played together and figured out how to win!”
As a kid, Yeager was forced to play ball, and lucky for him, it worked out, but Yeager said he’s leaving baseball up to his three boys.
Yeager’s greatest accomplishment, aside of being a proud father and husband, was the creation of a throat guard used and required by many leagues. The idea came after Yeager nearly lost his life in 1976 when teammate Bill Russell shattered a bat striking Yeager in the throat as he waited in the on-deck circle.
After 10 days, Yeager was back on the diamond playing again for 10 more years and is now a catching and hitting coach in Las Vegas for the Dodgers Triple-A team.