New Tampa's Bill Corcoran sees strong market for baseball memorabilia

From the Times:

By Joel Poiley

NEW TAMPA — In these troubled economic times, it defies logic that a sports memorabilia dealer would thrive.

But for West Meadows resident Bill Corcoran, business is booming.

"The only explanation I have is that it's a hobby," said Corcoran, 48. "And in hard times, people turn to some type of respite or hobby to escape."

Business was always consistent, Corcoran said. But when the economy took a turn for the worse last year, orders took off.

"I heard attendance went up at movie theaters during the Depression for the same reason," he said.

Corcoran specializes in collecting baseball memorabilia, predominantly balls and 8-by-10 photos. He boasts of more than 300,000 autographs in stock, one of the largest collections in the country.

About 14,000 men have played major league baseball, and Corcoran said he has autographs from 11,000 of them.

He sustains his business, now in its 20th year full time, by selling vintage pieces of the game's greats, such as a signed piece of paper by Babe Ruth or an autographed ball from Joe DiMaggio.

Corcoran said he gains more satisfaction helping long-forgotten players whose career consisted of a single pinch-hit appearance 60 years ago by providing a market for their autographs. He also developed an affinity for Latin players, watching them as they passed through the minor leagues in his native Syracuse, N.Y.

"I always had a fascination with the Latin players because they played briefly, then they'd go back home," Corcoran said. "They had a language barrier over here, then there was also a geographic barrier with the mail system in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. So I always viewed them as more of a challenge for autographs."

Once Corcoran established his career, he saw his profession as a way to help many Latin players who suffered financially after retiring.

One such player was Sandy Amoros, a World Series hero with the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers who ended up destitute when he died in Miami in 1992. Amoros lived for a time in Ybor City.

Corcoran was able to raise some money for Amoros when the baseball player signed items for collectors.

Former major-leaguer Benny Ayala has helped Corcoran set up private signings and shows in Puerto Rico for the past 20 years. Ayala works with the Baseball Assistance Team, a division of the commissioner's office that helps players in need.

"Bill has helped more than 100 players here," Ayala said. "He's the type of promoter who is honest and pays very well. He's very up front and a pleasure to deal with, and the players here really appreciate his efforts."

A student of baseball history, Corcoran researches players through the Baseball Encyclopedia and the Internet. He rarely works with Hall of Famers because their autographs are easy to get at card shows and golf tournaments, he said.

His approach is to learn something about the player — a hometown, hobby or a former roommate — before he contacts them.

"Someone will want that one player to finish their collection, so I try to find them," Corcoran said. "If a guy played in 1912 and died in 1924, I want his autograph on something."

That's why he made it a point to find Larry Yount, brother of Hall of Famer Robin Yount.

Yount's career was over nearly as soon as it started. He was a pitcher for the Houston Astros and entered a game as a relief pitcher in 1971.

"So he's in the game, in the official box score," Corcoran said. "And as he's warming up, he hurts his back. So he figures he's just starting and doesn't want to jeopardize his career, and he comes out of the game before he throws a pitch."

That was Yount's only major-league appearance.

It's those quirky oddities about obscure players that fascinate Corcoran and allows him a unique window into the game.

"I get to talk baseball with them, and the money is able to help them out," Corcoran said. "That's always been an important part of this for me, giving back to these players who gave so much to the game and can use the help."

A different game

Corcoran focuses on the old-timers because they will sign items he sends them in the mail. The first former player to sign and return an item was Phillies' Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts, who lives in Temple Terrace.

He used to travel extensively when his two teenage sons were younger, visiting seven different countries through the years in search of former players. Now, customers contact him or he buys and sells other people's old collections.

The down side of the business, Corcoran said, is that Generation Next kids consumed with technology and gadgets are not into collecting like baby boomers.

"I'm buying out the old-timers' collections," Corcoran said. "But I don't see a generation behind me to buy us out."

Bill Corcoran Master collector

Job: Sports memorabilia collector

Residence: West Meadows. Has lived in New Tampa 20 years.

Age: 48

Family:

Wife: Mary Beth.

Sons: Drew 13, Chris 17.

Magic moment: Corcoran got his first autograph at age 10 in his native Syracuse, N.Y. At that time the city was home to the Triple A affiliate of the Yankees, and Corcoran saw players on the way up like Thurman Munson and Ron Guidry. Others, such as Jim Rice and John Candelaria, passed through with visiting teams. "My dad printed the programs, so I had access to the ballpark, and I'd hang out by the clubhouse."

Bear market: According to Corcoran, two events that pushed collecting into the stratosphere occurred when José Canseco asked for $25,000 to sign items at a show during the height of his popularity in the late 1980s and early '90s. Not long after, Joe DiMaggio signed a seven-figure deal with Upper Deck.

"That blew it through the roof," Corcoran said. "DiMaggio was a shrewd businessman. He was one of the first guys to realize if he signed a ball or bat instead of a piece of paper, he could charge more."

Collecting tip: For the price of an A-Rod- or Derek Jeter-signed baseball, which sells for $300 to $400, you could buy 10 or 15 Hall of Famers that go for about $30 to $40 apiece.

Compare notes: Reach Bill Corcoran at bcorcora@tampabay.rr.com.

East-West Road Shot Down...again

After months of re-evaluation, the east-west road appears dead - again. Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, the state's toll road authority, wrapped up a four-month study yesterday, which concluded that the project is just too expensive.

The $183 million project has been looked at on and off several times over the past four years. It was declared dead months ago, but then Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio urged the Turnpike Enterprise to take another look at it.

"We have to be able to make the project sustain itself and pay for itself," said Turnpike spokeswoman Christa Deason. "It doesn't appear that is going to be feasible for us to do."

It was disappointing news to Warren Dixon, who, along with others in Tampa Palms, oppose plans to build a bridge from New Tampa Boulevard to Commerce Park Boulevard, which leads to Tampa Palms Boulevard, without the east-west road.

Without the toll road, Dixon says, the bridge will dump too much traffic into the heart of Tampa Palms.

"This region needs a new road," he said. "To go ahead and build the bridge the city proposes without the east-west road will do nothing bu turn the streets of Tampa Palms into a commuter route."

--- Dong-Phuong Nguyen

Piece of the past returns for West Meadows woman

Kim Polidoro waited in the car line at school to pick up her son last week, contemplating which of the antique china sets from her great-grandmother she should use for Thanksgiving. Chatting with her dad, she spoke of how grateful she was to own such sentimental pieces and the significance of passing things on.

Polidoro lamented that she didn't possess a single item from her maternal grandmother. Nana, who died in 1991, did not own much. She cared for her parents and her in-laws as they aged. Many of her belongings were items they bequeathed to her.

"It's just really sad," Polidoro told her dad, Ken Anderson. "It would have been nice to have something that belonged to her."

That same day, 1,200 miles away in Frankenmuth, Mich., someone walked into a thrift store to donate a very special item.

MOMS Clubs growing nationally

[From left, Mallory Carter, 3, Cassidy Boyette, 3, Hailey Margetis, 4, and Jack Carbone, 3, make pieces of edible art at the home of Jodi Boyette recently. This MOMS group has a board of directors, membership dues and more than 20 mothers. KERI WIGINTON   |   Times]

NEW TAMPA — They are 23 members strong with an active board of directors. They perform community service projects and distribute monthly newsletters, pay membership dues and vote on the direction of the organization.

They also change diapers, use colored yogurt as finger paint and referee disputes about toys.

Meet the latest breed of suburban playgroups in Tampa Bay, where Robert's Rules of Order reign loosely over meetings and treasurers reimburse members for juice boxes.

These members make up the MOMS Club of Wesley Chapel-Northeast, one of about 2,000 similar groups across the United States that offer mothers a chance to become a part of a playgroup governed by basic rules and goals.

MOMS Clubs can be like corporations for stay-at-home moms where field trips are decided through formal votes and bedtime books are suggested in order to carry out the month's theme. A bit over the top?

Not for moms like Toni Roberts, the Wesley Chapel chapter president.

"I think people are surprised when they learn how organized we are," said Roberts, a former teacher who now spends several hours a week making the club run smoothly. "But it's not just a playgroup. We try to focus on moms as much as we do kids."

Tax district recount produces same winner

A recount in the Tampa Palms Open Space and Transportation seat 4 race has yielded the same outcome, with the winner beating her second-place opponent by 16 votes.

Newcomer Susanne Shea Alfonso was victorious over Martin E. Maldonado and incumbent Rosanne Clementi. Alfonso originally led Maldonado by 21 votes. Because the race was so close, elections officials had to count the votes again.

Alfonso, who lost five votes in the recount, received 1,201 votes, Maldonado got 1,185 and Clementi garnered 1,148 votes.

The taxing district operates recreation centers in West Meadows and Richmond Place.

Dong-Phuong Nguyen, Times Staff Writer

*

Another weekend, another community garage sale

Find some bargains in West Meadows this Saturday, where residents will be selling their stuff between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Do you smell smoke?

Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation & Conservation Department has announced a prescribed burn today, Thursday, Sept. 18, at Cypress Creek Nature Preserve, west of the northern dead end of Commerce Park Boulevard. The purpose of this one-day burn is ecological site management. Questions? Call (813) 672-7876.

Artist of the month: Katherine Michael

Enjoy the paintings of West Meadows folk artist Katherine Michael throughout September at the New Tampa Regional Library, 10001 Cross Creek Blvd. Read more about Michael here. The North Tampa Arts League, which named Michael its September Artist of the Month, meets the 4th Wednesday of every month at Tampa Palms' Compton Community Center, 7:00 pm.

Tampa Palms homeowners reject bridge plan

Tampa Palms residents this afternoon roundly denounced a proposal to build a bridge connecting their neighborhood with West Meadows.

The bridge spanning Interstate-75 has been planned since the 1980s. But it was linked nearly all that time to a proposed east-west expressway, connecting West Meadows to Interstate-275.

Officials shelved the expressway plan this summer, as too expensive. The bridge appeared stalled too.

But city officials recently revived it.

"What didn't go away is the city's obligation to build that bridge," said Steve Daignault, Tampa's administrator for public works. "It's committed to doing that."

Council member Joseph Caetano, previously wary of the $20-million project, agreed. "We should carry through on it." he said.

Some 40 of Caetano's constituents, nearly all from Tampa Palms, disagreed today in a meeting at Freedom High School. They argued that the bridge could turn Tampa Palms Boulevard into a popular bypass around Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

"How do you do that to us?" asked Warren Dixon. "What can you be thinking?"

--Bill Coats, Times staff writer

Meeting to focus on east-west bridge

A public meeting on the city's proposal to build a bridge between West Meadows and Tampa Palms is scheduled for 1-3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 12, in the media center of Freedom High School, 17410 Commerce Park Blvd.

The meeting, organized by the area's City Council member, Joseph Caetano, will focus on a project that would have been vital to the now-defunct East-West expressway, but has a murky future now that the expressway has been shelved.

The bridge would carry traffic over Interstate 75 between New Tampa Boulevard in West Meadows and Commerce Park in Tampa Palms.