Olympia man is Mariners superfan

Olympia’s Oscar Soule has what it takes to be team’s No. 1 booster

By Gail Wood | The Olympian • Published August 03, 2008

• Comments (0)

Oscar Soule of Olympia carefully turned the pages of his prized autograph book, reading the names of his boyhood baseball heroes.

"Here's Fred Hutchinson. Here's Connie Mack. Here's Hal Dennis and Mickey Vernon, who is in the Hall of Fame," Soule said while sitting at the roll-top desk at his home.

The pages of the 60-year-old autograph book are surprisingly clean, white and wrinkle-free. The book is a treasure well-kept.

Soule's lifelong love affair with baseball culminates this year with his selection as the Seattle Mariners' fan of the year, but it began more than 60 years ago, in a barbershop at the Chase Hotel in his hometown of St. Louis. During summer 1947, his mother, Selma, brought Soule, with his autograph book in tow, to the barbershop where players from the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers and other teams stayed.

"Here's Early Winn. Lee Scarborough," Soule continued reading, his gravelly voice filled with excitement. "Johnny Lindell, Joe Paige, Joe DiMaggio."

On the back page of his treasure is the signature of Stan Musial, a Hall of Fame outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals and Soule's favorite player. The vanity license plate for Soule's car includes 6 because it was Musial's jersey number.

"I was the little kid in the barbershop," Soule said. "The players would just be sitting there, talking."

And in walked this little boy with an autograph book.

In a way, Soule, now 68, is that same little boy, mesmerized by the players and the game. His home is a shrine to baseball, filled with memorabilia. A painting of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson striking out his 17th batter in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series hangs above his desk. Near that picture is a lithograph of Musial hitting his fifth home run in a 1958 game.

"I was at that game," Soule said, smiling. "I was sitting right here."

A few years after Soule moved to Olympia in 1971 to become a teacher of environmental science at The Evergreen State College, his allegiance switched from his hometown St. Louis Cardinals to the Seattle Mariners.