The Shawon-O-Meter Goes on a Road Trip

By Steven Katz

In 1990 David Cihla came to visit me in Philadelphia with Shawon-O-Meter in tow (actually, two in tow). The plan was to hit a couple of Phillies games at Veteran’s Stadium and then take the train to DC to drop the original Shawon-O-Meter off at the Smithsonian. I’m pretty sure it was late in the season because both the Phillies and Cubs were out of the picture (though I guess that happens by May with the Cubs some years).

They were making up a rained out game, so there we were at a Friday Night Twilight Double Header in an empty Veteran’s Stadium. Apparently Veteran’s Stadium is a great place to go for securing alcohol if you’re an underaged High School kid. Said alcohol sales were scheduled to stop after the 7^th inning stretch of the 2^nd game. Game one went 13 innings and needless to say the natives were restless and not very appreciative of Cihla and his Shawon-O-Meter. I think it was about the 5^th inning of the 2^nd game that a gang of 17 year olds came over and threatened us with bodily harm. No blood was spilled but the Shawon-O-Meter was grabbed and thrown down in some crevice 50 ft. below us right behind the center field wall.

My initial reaction was “no big deal, we can spend $4.50 to make another one”……but Cihla was determined to retrieve his treasured meter…..leaving me on my own to deal with the drunken youth of Philadelphia. Some how we made it out alive with the meter (version #2, the one that is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame) in one piece……well, its normal 27 pieces in a black hefty garbage bag that is.

Disclaimer: Almost twenty years on Steve’s and my memory is a little foggy. The descriptions and details are deemed not accurate, but approximate