COOPERSTOWN, NY. (CAP) - Wayne DeBisschop, who in 1991 became the first fan in major league history to call someone on his cell phone during a televised game and wave like an idiot behind home plate, will be honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, officials confirmed today.
"To be listed alongside the likes of Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven? That's just amazing," DeBisschop told CAP News during a sit-down interview from his home in Scituate, Mass. "Or even more amazing is that I'm in and Mark McGwire isn't.
"Although I've never jammed a needle in my ass, so there's that," DeBisschop noted.
DeBisschop was an engineer at a company in Northridge, Calif., when he decided to take out his cell phone and call his brother during the eighth inning of an L.A. Dodgers game in July, 1991. A documentary of the evening's events will be on permanent display at the Hall.
In the footage, DeBisschop can be seen gyrating on the screen about three inches to the right of shortstop Alfredo Griffin's crotch.
"I had no idea it would become such a sensation," Debisshop explains in the film. "The funny thing of it is, is that I wasn't waving as much as I was trying to get away from the cell phone's battery, which was, literally, burning a hole in my flesh.
"And now you can't turn on a game without seeing someone doing 'my move.' It's fantastic," DeBisschop added.
Nominees who didn't reach the minimum 75% vote needed for induction included Dalia Dalrymple, the first woman to flash her boobs on the Jumbotron; Gerard Trump, who was ejected from the bleachers for a record 75 consecutive games, and Jeff Maier.
- John Gettings
Contributing Writer