Brewers: Racine woman to auction off memorabilia collection

RACINE (Associated Press) - Dwyn Castle wasn't just your average sports memorabilia collector. She often made her Milwaukee Brewers collectibles at home.

The 72-year-old Racine woman is parting with her beloved collection at an auction Saturday at 9.a.m. She and her family are trying to raise money for her medical care.

Castle, who founded the Robin Yount Fan Club and was a longtime photographer for the team, suffers from dementia and lives in a Kenosha assisted-living facility.

Her collection includes the champagne bottles players popped after they beat the California Angels in 1982 to become the American League champs.

She has game-worn cleats autographed by Paul Molitor and Yount and Christmas cards sent to her by former Brewers Jim Gantner, Sixto Lezcano and Yount.

Her collection also includes some homemade items - a Harvey's Wallbangers clock with players from 1982 representing different times. For the 1976 bicentennial, she made blue-and-gold top hats with player photos on them, and had one autographed.

"The whole basement was like that," said her nephew, Daniel Kramer, of Kenosha. "Then, eventually, the rest of the house went that way, too. She had a little bit of obsessive compulsive, but everybody has a little."

Two trucks transported Castle's massive collection from Racine to the House in the Woods Auction Gallery in the Waukesha County town of Eagle. In them were signed baseballs from Juan Nieves' 1987 no-hitter, Molitor's 39-game hit streak, Yount's 1,000th and 2,000th hit and Don Sutton's 300th victory.

Kramer said the family kept a few items - Yount's Little League and motorcycle racing trophies that his wife sent Castle as a present. Castle also saved two scrapbooks of memories.

Castle started going to Brewers games when the team moved from Seattle in 1970. She became friends with Yount in 1974 when the 18-year-old made his big-league debut.

Her Yount fan club eventually included the shortstop's parents, and Yount regularly attended the club's annual birthday parties for him.

Her devotion was so strong her license plates read "ROB 19" - her family is auctioning some of those off, too.

"It was a little strange to me at first because I was only 18 years old, and you don't expect something like that," Yount, now a Brewers coach, said this week. "But she was incredibly dedicated to the cause, and over time, we became family friends."

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