John Guinozzo in the Press Box
A man described as our city's "walking, talking baseball encyclopedia" will make a presentation on — you guessed it, baseball history — July 7th at the Benjamin Hooks Central Library to kick off the library's exhibit on "Baseball Memphis."
John Guinozzo is known to thousands of Memphians as the official scorekeeper at Memphis Redbirds and Grizzlies games and the statistician for just about all the University of Memphis Tigers teams. On Thursday, July 7th, beginning at 6:30 p.m., Guinozzo will discuss his museum-quality collection of sports memorabilia, which will be on display on the fourth floor of the library through the month of July.
Guinozzo estimates that he has kept score at more than 5,600 games over a 41-year career. "Baseball is my number-one love, and what I always wanted to do," he says. That love of sports extends to record-keeping for the Olympics, the Pan-American games, and even international baseball. He is the author of numerous articles and books on the sport, including The Memphis Baseball Encyclopedia, published in 2005. Autographed copies of that book will be available for sale after the presentation.
Just how well does Guinozzo know baseball? Just Ask Vance. "One of my readers had an odd question a couple of years ago," says our magazine's history columnist, Vance Lauderdale. 'They wanted to know the score of a game played between the old Memphis Chicks and some Nashville team back in 1954. Too weary to find this information myself, I asked John about it, and within an hour he not only gave me the score, of course, but told me the exact time the game started and ended, and provided both teams' lineups, the temperature, and even the weather conditions that day, among other details. He is truly amazing."
Mark your calendars: Thursday, July 7th, at the main library. It's not every day that you get to see a "walking, talking encyclopedia."
PHOTO COURTESY BENJAMIN HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION COURTESY WAYNE DOWDY AND JIMMY OGLE.
