Baseball legend Mike Hargrove and football greats Duane Thomas and Donny Anderson joined Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum Director Guy C. Vanderpool at a press conference held Tuesday, October 30, 2007 to introduce PPHM’s sports artifact collecting initiative.

The initiative will ensure that the stories and accomplishments of sports legends from the panhandle will always be kept for others to learn from and enjoy.  PPHM is committed to collecting items reflecting the great diversity of athletic competition, and it is hoped individuals and school teams will make PPHM the home for their records of success.

The intent is to collect and preserve items used or collected by Panhandle-Plains people from all genres of sports from soccer to golf and wrestling to bowling.  

In recent months, the museum has received significant contributions including a jersey, shoes, and helmets used by John Ayers; Jerry Logan trading cards; Maurice Cheeks’ West Texas A&M University basketball jersey; programs from the Sun Bowls West Texas A&M University played in; and baseballs signed by Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench, Bobby Bonilla, Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Steve Carlton, Roger Clemens, Dennis Eckersley, Cecil Fielder, Whitey Ford, Jim “Catfish” Hunter, Bo Jackson, Reggie Jackson, Sandy Koufax, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Stan Musial, Cal Ripken Jr., Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Pete Rose, Nolan Ryan, Mike Schmidt, Tom Seaver, Duke Snider, Warren Spahn, Ted Williams, and Carl Yastrzemski.

People interested in donating their sports items for preservation can call Michael Grauer at (806) 651-2262 or call Buster Ratliff at (806) 651-2252.