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|| SportsShooter.com: News Item: Posted 2004-02-08
Benefit for Lovero boys a huge success
By Brad Mangin, SportsShooter.com
Photo by John Cordes
Jay, Trish and John Lovero at the autograph show.
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Saturday turned out to be another amazing day in a long line of amazing days that have been experienced lately by the friends of V.J. Lovero, his family and other people who had their lives touched by him. A large crowd descended upon City of Industry, Calif. to raise money for The Lovero Children's Trust 2004 by getting autographs from the likes of Randy Johnson, Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson and seventeen other ballplayers.
The wonderful event, co-organized by Hall of Famer Rod Carew and freelance photographer Lou Sauritch went off without a hitch, raising money for the special trust fund set up for V.J.'s two boys Jay, 13, and John, 16.
Sauritch and Carew worked for several months putting this event together, along with the help of Frank Zamarripa, who graciously hosted the autograph/collectible show at his facility. Without the tireless effort of these three men this wildly successful event would have never taken place.
"I am amazed at the turnout," Sauritch said while sitting down for the first time all day after the show ended. "We made over $70,000 today. That's a tribute to V.J. that all these players had that much respect for V.J. to show up and sign for free."
The impressive lineup of current and former big league ballplayers included: Rod Carew, Randy Johnson, Reggie Jackson, Mike Sweeney, Garret Anderson, Shawn Green, Troy Percival, Robb Nen, Bobby Grich, Jay Buhner, Chuck Finley, Mark Langston, Kirk McCaskill, Willie Fraser, Jim Edmonds, Mike Scioscia, Eric Davis, Brent Mayne, Wally Joyner and Tony La Russa.
Several of the players went out of their way to make sure they were able to help V.J. and his family. Randy Johnson chartered a plane and flew in Saturday morning from Phoenix just to do the show. Jay Buhner flew in from Seattle on his own. Tony La Russa flew in to Los Angeles from the San Francisco Bay Area at 8am just for the show. He signed for a few hours and then headed back to the airport to fly home. This kind of effort was commonplace by all who worked so hard to make this day a reality.
Photo by Mitch Haddad
Rod Carew, left, and Lou Sauritch never stopped working on Saturday.
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"My buddy up there is smiling down on us. He's happy," said Carew while reflecting back on the day. "John, Jay and Trish (V.J.'s wife) wanted to be a part of this to let the players know how much they appreciate the way they all cared for their dad," Carew added.
From the first autograph signed by Troy Percival at 9am to the last autograph signed by Mike Scioscia at 5pm there were plenty of fans lined up and eager to get a signature to add to their collection, knowing that 100 percent of the money was going to a good cause.
By the end of the day Trish Lovero was thrilled with the day's outcome. "I would like to thank all the individuals who participated and worked so hard to put on the show. I am overwhelmed with their generosity and their outpouring of love for my family and my husband. I will never forget this day as long as I live. My boys will always have an understanding and a deep appreciation for guys like Rod Carew, Lou Sauritch and Frank Zamarripa. I will never forget all the volunteers and special friends that were here today and each of the athletes that took the time to help our family provide a college education fund for Jay and John's future," Lovero said.
There were many people who worked behind the scenes to make this day possible. Jeff Brosnan, owner of Custom Images in Irvine, Calif. printed thousands of 8 x 10 photographs free of charge that were sold to be autographed. These weren't your typical card show glossies either. Most of the images were from V.J.'s library, pulled together by friend and assistant Phil Ellsworth and Sports Illustrated picture editor Nate Gordon. Among them were Carew's 3,000th hit (classic V.J. ball-on-bat), Jay Buhner and son on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Kirk McCaskill pitching in amazing light at Fenway. Other photographer friends who contributed to the collection of photographs that were signed included Michael Zagaris, Mitch Haddad and Brad Mangin.
Photo by Mitch Haddad
Reggie Jackson, John Lovero and Rod Carew.
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No one put in more effort and had more fun on Saturday than Oakland Athletics security guard Roy Tosconi, who traveled down to southern California to help out with crowd control. Tosconi, who has worked the A's dugout area at the Oakland Coliseum for many years, befriended V.J. years ago while Lovero was in town to cover Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire and the great A's teams of the late 1980's and early 1990's. Tosconi always looked forward to Lovero's visits and greeted him on the field with a big hug before every ballgame. The effort put forth by Tosconi typified the day.
No matter how much work everyone did, the event would not have been possible without the terrific venue that Zamarripa supplied. "Frank went above and beyond...without his effort and generosity this doesn't happen. He's just a great human being," Sauritch said.
"Rod and Lou came up with this idea- it was a challenge and I love challenges," Zamarripa said at the end of the day.
This effort to raise money for The Lovero Children's Trust 2004 is the first of many events to take place in the coming months. Next up is the "Friends of V.J." benefit auction that will be hosted by SportsCards Plus, Inc. of Laguna Nigel, Calif. on May 13, 2004. This event, also organized by Carew and Sauritch, will auction off many sports memorabilia items generously donated by many of V.J.'s friends and admirers. Anyone out there who would like to help can do so by donating sports memorabilia to the "Friends of V.J." benefit auction. 100% of the final bid price of all items
Photo by Brad Mangin
All of the ballplayers signed the mats of two portraits of V.J. Lovero backstage on Saturday, one for Jay Lovero and one for John Lovero. This one is for Jay.
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received will be donated to The Lovero Children's Trust 2004. Items they are seeking include game worn equipment such as jerseys, gloves, bats, etc. Autographed items and display pieces are also welcomed. The telephone/Internet auction will be conducted by SportsCards Plus on a nationwide basis. Every item will be featured in a high quality color catalog that will include a tribute to V.J.
For more details about the auction please call SportsCards Plus auction director Dan Imler at (800) 350-2273. Information is also available online at http://www.sportscardsplus.com. The deadline for donating items to "Friends of V.J." benefit auction is March 8, 2004.
As the long day drew to a close there were smiles on all the faces of the people who made the day so special. "How could you have not liked V.J.? This is what he wanted to do with his life- photograph baseball. He treated people with dignity and grace," Carew said.
"V.J. loved all of you and would be so proud of your love and generosity. Thank you. I love all of you," Trish Lovero said as she headed home with a tear in her eye and a smile on her face.
Related Email Addresses:
Brad Mangin: brad@sportsshooter.com
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