Western & Eastern Treasures Magazine
Featured Online Article from
Volume 33 March 1999
 Following the recovery of his 1945 World Series ring, Eddie Mayo insisted on donating $1,000 to the Shore Seekers club. He also gave the finder, Bill Draper, a signed 1954 Topps baseball card. |
Baseball returned to the national spotlight last summer. Both Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa broke Roger Maris' longstanding home-run record, and I think everyone would agree that the New York Yankees' championship season was nothing short of phenomenal. And believe it or not, a little metal detecting club on Maryland's Eastern Shore also played a part in baseball history in 1998.
As secretary of the Shore Seekers Artifact & Recovery Club, I've grown accustomed to seeing silver pieces of eight and valuable gold jewelry studded with precious gems. Such finds, while not exactly run-of-the-mill, show up with some regularity in our area. The nearby Atlantic beaches provide a different type of hunting and finds than those afforded by inland sites. Because of this, it's not unusual for a member to find a diamond ring and a British silver coin from the 1700s in the same month. A recent event, however, changed all that and that's where the baseball connection comes in.
A newspaper reporter attended one of our meetings a few months ago, prior to writing an article about the club. The article and an accompanying photo appeared in a local weekly in the middle of August. As is usual with any publicity about the club, we made sure that the reporter knew it was our policy to find lost items free of charge and return them if at all possible. This caught the eye of one reader.
Eddie Mayo noticed that the Shore Seekers pictured and mentioned in the article, John and Cynthia Fassel, lived in the same community he did. He got their number from the phone book but was unable to catch them at home. Returning to the article, he also noticed that the reporter had included a number for our vice president, Bill Draper. Eddie then called Bill and explained why he was so interested in contacting the Shore Seekers.
 As a sports collectible, the big, bold, solid gold World Series ring is probably worth thousands of dollars, but Eddie hesitates to put a price on it, saying, "I wouldn't take a million for it!" |
Eddie had lost a ring some years ago and wondered if the club might be able to help him find it. Bill asked what type of ring it was and was somewhat surprised at the response. It turned out that Eddie is a retired major-league baseball player and coach, and the ring in question a 1945 World Series ring. Excited at the prospect of being able to find and return such a prize to its owner, Bill got all the particulars and agreed to begin the search later that day.
Eddie "Hotshot" Mayo, 88, made his major league debut in 1936 and played for such teams as the New York Giants, Boston Bees, Philadelphia Athletics, and Detroit Tigers as an infielder. He had a career batting average of .252, was a member of the 1945 World Champion Detroit Tigers, was named The Sporting News 1945 American League Player of the Year, and later coached the Philadelphia Phillies. With such a long and storied career, it's no wonder that he was anxious to have his ring back.
Eddie had lost the ring four years ago, and after numerous unsuccessful attempts by other detectorists, had almost given it up as a lost cause. He and his wife had recently sold their home and were planning to return to the West Coast when he saw the article about the Shore Seekers. We were his last chance to find the treasured ring.
 Baseball's Eddie "Hotshot" Mayo was a member of the 1945 World Champion Detroit Tigers, and honored as The Sporting News American League Player of the Year. |
Our club has a "hit list" from which members are called on a rotating basis to recover lost items. Bill called the people at the top of the list, but none were available at that time. Rather than wait, he headed out to begin the search himself.
Bill followed Eddie's directions and soon found himself at the Mayo home. After introducing himself and asking Eddie to tell him what he had been doing when the ring was lost, Bill got to work. Bill had brought several detectors along, but decided to use a Tesoro Micro Max because of its proven effectiveness on gold targets. Eddie told Bill that he had been pulling ivy in his backyard and dumping the trash in a nearby area on the day he lost the ring. Seeing that this part of the yard was too large to hunt by himself, Bill asked if Eddie had done anything else that day. Eddie replied that he had also washed his car.
Eddie showed Bill where he had washed the car and where he dumped the soapy water. This was an area that Bill could search by himself. A grid search of the driveway area turned up a few coins and other objects, but no ring. Noticing raised flower beds with dirt held back by timbers on both sides of the driveway, Bill scanned one side with no luck and then proceeded to the other. As he neared the end of the second bed, and on his last sweep, Bill heard a beep signifying a likely target.
The dirt was very loosely packed, and Bill could easily pinpoint and retrieve the target. Moving the surface soil aside, Bill saw a glint and immediately reached in and scooped the object up without looking.
"What do you think it is, Eddie?" he asked.
"I don't know. I think I saw something gold."
With that Bill let the target fall into Eddie's outstretched hands. It was a size 13 solid gold 1945 World Series ring with two diamonds and baseball scenes on the sides! After he recovered, Eddie gave Bill a big hug; and when asked how much he thought the ring was worth, Eddie replied, "I don't know, Bill, but if someone offered me a million dollars for it, I wouldn't take it."
That's a pretty good story, right? A detectorist finds and returns someone's most prized possession. But the story doesn't end there.
Thrilled at having his ring back, Eddie offered Bill a reward. Bill politely declined, explaining that it is club policy to find and return lost items for free. Eddie finally prevailed on Bill to at least come inside for a cool drink. Bill, Eddie, Eddie's wife Virginia, and a neighbor sat around the kitchen table, taking turns admiring Eddie's ring. Eddie again tried to give Bill a reward because he said he had made a public offer to reward anyone finding the ring- and Bill again refused.
After a few minutes, Eddie excused himself and went into another room. When he returned, he said he had two things he wanted Bill to have. One was a signed 1954 Topps Eddie Mayo baseball card. The other was a $1,000 check made out to the Shore Seekers! Eddie insisted that Bill accept the check because of the public offer of a reward and because he wanted the club to know that he appreciated our good works.
Although Eddie's ring has great monetary value (probably in excess of $10,000), the look on his face when Bill returned the ring was priceless. Bill will never forget it, and the Shore Seekers will never forget Eddie's kindness and generosity, either. When Bill played college baseball, this wasn't the kind of grand slam he expected to hit... but he'll take it!
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