Razor Shines Weekend: Autographs, Memories and a Moment Made for No. 3

September 16, 2024 – International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release

By the time Razor Shines Weekend was over, you wondered how the most iconic player in the history of the Indianapolis Indians franchise was doing.

You wondered how his emotions were faring, having seen his No. 3 go up on the Victory Field left field wall next to Jackie Robinson’s No. 42. “My main focus,” he would say of the number retirement ceremony, “was trying not to cry.”

You wondered how his endurance was holding up. Hey, the man turned 68 this summer. The three days had been a dizzying blur, from getting up at 6 AM for television and radio interviews to a pregame talk with the current Indians to sharing time with thousands of strangers. Except nobody is a stranger to Razor Shines, not in this town anyway. “They’ve treated me with the utmost respect and there’s no way I’m going to say no to anybody,” he said. And he wasn’t kidding. One couple even asked him to sign their infant daughter’s diaper. Another career landmark for Shines: First career baby bottom autograph. “I did,” he shrugged, “what they asked me to do.”

You wondered how his right hand was feeling. If he signs it, they will come … and come … and come. The three games the past weekend drew crowds of 11,501, 13,951 and 10,756, with the day two attendance being the Indians’ first non-holiday sellout since Aug. 31, 2019, when Razor Shines was in attendance for Fan Appreciation Weekend. Many of those customers stood in line on the center field concourse as Shines autographed anything put in front of him and smiled for anyone who held up a cell phone camera. Call it the days of Shines and poses. “It cramped every once in a while,” he said of his overworked signing hand, “but that’s part of it. I get it. I’m going to sign for whoever asks me unless they tell me I’ve got to be somewhere else.”

It was yesterday once more. It was the 1980s and the Indians were winning four consecutive American Association championships and in the middle of it all was a guy wearing No. 3 – just like Babe Ruth. They shared so much success together, those Indians, part of it from a winning mentality. Shines told the story of how they would have their fingers measured for championship rings before the season. “Therefore, we had a purpose, we had a focus, we had a goal, and we went out and accomplished it,” he said.

For three days the name came rolling out of the public address system that has never lost its magic.

Rrrrrazor Shines!

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