76. Leo Ullman: Survivor... Collector. Podcast Por arte de portada

76. Leo Ullman: Survivor... Collector.

76. Leo Ullman: Survivor... Collector.

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 The Ryan Express was rolling along in June of 1975 as Nolan Ryan had just thrown the 4th no-hitter of his career while pitching for the California Angels. The flame throwing righty was doing things nobody had ever seen before, and would continue to do until his bionic arm finally gave out while with the Rangers in 1993. 27 seasons, 5,714 strikeouts, and 7 no-hitters later, Ryan finally was put out to pasture where he continued to be a success in whatever he did… and people noticed. One such person was Leo Ullman who two years after Ryan threw the final pitch of his Hall-of-Fame career purchased 11 Nolan Ryan baseball cards at a $1 a piece… and so began the largest collection of Nolan Ryan memorabilia that has been assembled. Saddles, cleats, bats, balls, if it had Nolan Ryan’s name attached to it, Ullman purchased it, eventually amassing close to 15,000 different items in a collection that now resides at Stockton University in New Jersey. Ullman wanted the entire collection to stay input, so instead of it going to the Hall of Fame where they might have picked over the items in the collection, he kept it intact at the campus in Galloway Township. A lawyer by trade, Ullman is also an author, having written a book about his collection titled, ‘Nolan Ryan, The Largest And Most Unique Collection Of All Things Nolan Ryan, The Greatest Power Pitcher Of All Time.” But that’s not the only book Mr. Ullman wrote. ‘796 Days: Hiding as a child in occupied Amsterdam during WWII and then coming to America’ is the story of Leo as a 3-year old when he was taken in by a couple and hidden in their attic for over 2 1/2 years during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. The Dutch resistance put his parents in a different house and it wasn’t until the war was over that young Leo was reunited with his birthparents… who survived without knowing if their little Leo had as well. Leo comes on the Past Our Prime podcast and tells us the similarities between his life’s story and that of Anne Frank’s. He would later go on to become a Director and Chairman of the Anne Frank Center USA and tells us that his war parents brought him to stay with them knowing they could be executed if the Jewish boy was found for one reason… “It was the right thing to do.” His parents would emigrate to the States and settle in Brooklyn and 8-year old Leo would fall in love with Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers. A few years later the team would break Leo’s heart and leave for Los Angeles, but Leo’s love for baseball never waned. At some point, his allegiance turned to the Mets when Mets owner Steve Cohen heard of Leo’s story, he invited him to throw out the first pitch at a game… Leo recalls how, much like a former Mets pitcher by the name of Nolan Ryan, he bounced the pitch in the dirt much to his chagrin. But he refused to let his time in that tic define him. Instead, he joyfully tells us how he spent time with the Mets in a fantasy camp years ago and still keeps in touch with his fellow Mets buddies… At age 86, Leo has gone from the nightmare of the Holocaust to a Mets Dream Week… and in between, amassed the largest collection of Nolan Ryan collectibles of all-time. It’s been quite the life for Leo and he tells us all about it on the Past Our Prime podcast… Give us a listen and drop us a review wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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