Going Batty
WINFIELD TWP — Forgive Tim Thoma if he's gone a bit batty.
It's a point of passion with him.
Thoma, 57, is a 1979 Butler graduate and a member of the Golden Tornado's 1977 WPIAL co-championship football team. He has a ministry and serves as chaplain at Lernerville Speedway.
And he has developed a hobby of collecting bats from former major leaguers — many Hall of Famers — autographed jerseys and other memorabilia.
“I had a ton of baseball cards when I was a kid,” Thoma said. “When I got older, I wanted to get rid of some of them, so I went to some of those sports memorabilia shows and saw these guys with old helmets, jerseys, bats ...
“I liked the old jerseys and bats. Old-time baseball stuff has always held my interest. I decided to begin a collection of my own.”
Thoma estimates he's been collecting old sports items for roughly five years now. He has his share of autographed Pittsburgh Penguin and Steeler items, but the heart of his collection is baseball stuff — primarily bats.
“I'm guessing I've got 80 bats or so,” he said.
Read more about Thoma's collection in Sunday's Butler Eagle.
