Johnny Holsombeck gets excited when you ask him to show you his collection of sports memorabilia.

The walls of Double Play Bar & Grille in Montevallo are lined with his many, hard-to-come-by autographed baseballs, footballs, jerseys, pictures, stadium seats and other unusual items. It&8217;s a sports collector&8217;s dream.

When asked how it all started, Johnny replied, &8220;I grew up in a family that loved sports and I collected baseball cards when I was seven or eight years old.

I treasure the signed jersey from Joe Cribbs that Tony Berry, a teacher at Montevallo High School, brought me from the Alabama-Auburn football game when I was fourteen years old. I guess that really got me interested in collecting and I never stopped.&8221;

Some of the extraordinary things in his collection are the 300 autographed baseballs. One is signed by the three players, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantel. There are footballs from Jerry Rice, Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr. Framed jerseys are signed by Pete Rose, Joe Montana, Reggie Jackson, Willie McCovey, Johnny Bench and others. Holsombeck is proud of some of the more unusual keepsakes. He has autographed stadium seats from the Three Rivers stadium of the Pittsburg Steelers and the last phone bill for Bear Bryant from the University of Alabama.

The more valuable of Holsombeck&8217;s collection came from charity auctions. Prominent on the back wall of his business is a framed picture of Muhammad Ali with Elvis Presley. He acquired this at an auction and paid dearly to have it signed by Ali. He met Ali on four different occasions and has other pictures as well as a prized robe and boxer trunks. When asked which memento he values most, Holsombeck said, &8220;I think I would have to say it&8217;s the baseball signed by presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and George Bush. I was the high bidder for it at a charity auction.&8221;

Local sports are also important to Holsombeck. He has a picture with player names of the 1923 MHS girls&8217; basketball team and also pictures of the 1925 men&8217;s and women&8217;s teams. Among his collection are signed jerseys from University of Montevallo Coach Bob Riesener and Rusty Greer, a UM graduate who played with the Texas Rangers.

Sports fans will enjoy visiting Holsombeck&8217;s mini sports museum and those who do not admit interest will find that his exceptional enthusiasm is contagious.

There&8217;s a story behind each object and the museum&8217;s &8220;curator&8221; is a great storyteller.

Catherine Legg can be reached by e-mail at mailto:clegg2@bellsouth.net