From Knothole Gang to No. 1 fan

The inscription reads “George Altison Boston Braves No. 1 Fan,’’ honoring the longtime Marlborough resident who cofounded the Boston Braves Historical Association in 1992. As business manager of the association until his death last June at age 79, Altison was the keeper of the flame for the team he never stopped rooting for, starting as a member of the Knothole Gang at Braves Field in Boston in the 1940s.

The Altison brick sits near a statue of Hall of Fame lefthander Warren Spahn, who along with his teammates and the team’s diminishing cadre of fans were stunned when the Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953, ending 76 years of National League baseball in Boston. The team has been in Atlanta since 1966.

An Allston native, Altison watched the 1948 World Series against the Cleveland Indians while working in concessions at Braves Field, now the site of Boston University’s Nickerson Field. He was a one-man encyclopedia on the Braves, and a prime mover in the creation of the team’s hall of fame.

He kept the names and addresses of any player or coach who wore a Boston Braves uniform on file, and arranged 17 annual team reunions in Boston, most recently in 2008. Over the years, the guests included Spahn, pitcher Johnny Sain, and popular outfielder Tommy Holmes from the ’48 team; infielder Sibby Sisti, who had a cameo appearance in “The Natural,’’ and outfielder Sam Jethroe, the first African-American player to wear a Braves uniform and the NL’s Rookie of the Year in 1950.

When Jethroe fell on hard times after his house burned down, Altison led an association fund-raising drive to help him.

“When we learned the Braves were creating this area in their memorial park for people to lay bricks, we ordered the brick and used donations from our membership to purchase it,’’ said Newton resident Saul Wisnia, a BBHA board member. “We had such an overwhelming response last summer and fall that we were able to make a donation to the Jimmy Fund in George’s memory and some members are still sending in donations.

“George was the guiding light in keeping the memory of his boyhood baseball heroes alive,’’ said Wisnia. “He personified the team he loved — a working-class guy with a heart of gold who delighted in bringing the Braves back to Boston, if only for a day or two a year. Knowing that his name is a permanent part of the structure where the Braves now reside would be a source of great pride for him, as would the fact the surplus money donated for his brick was going to the Jimmy Fund at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute — a charity the Boston Braves helped establish.’’

Contributors include Joe Morgan, the former Red Sox manager who was signed by the Braves in 1952 and was called up to the Milwaukee Braves in 1959; former Red Sox pitcher Bill Monbouquette, who attended Braves games with the Knothole Gang, paying 50 cents in annual dues to sit in the left-field stands; and 91-year-old Ducky Detweiler, a Braves infielder in the 1940s.

“Without George, the association would never have gotten rolling,’’ said Morgan. “He did all the hard work and he was very successful in bringing a lot of those old-timers back. He was Boston Braves all the way and I’m glad to have been able to help honor him.’’

Only 33 former Boston Braves are alive, including four players from the ’48 team — Clint Conatser, Ray Martin, Alvin Dark, and Danny Litwhiler — who helped launch the charity via a national radio broadcast from Children’s Hospital featuring the cancer patient they called “Jimmy.’’

Conatser, 88, who lives in California, attended three reunions. “How George did what he did, I don’t know, but he got a lot of people involved because of his personality,’’ said Conatser.

“And if I needed anything, he always came through. I remember traveling to Easthampton in ’48 on behalf of the Jimmy Fund and they had my name on the theater marquee. I wasn’t a great player, but I can say to this day I had my name in lights.’’

Christine Altison said that her husband of 55 years, an electrical supervisor at Raytheon who also coached youth baseball in Marlborough, would have been proud and humbled by the tribute.

“George loved every minute of his endeavors on behalf of the Braves and I hope someday our family can go to Atlanta to see the brick,’’ she said. “George especially loved the reunions and he always liked to add a little surprise that wasn’t on the program.’’

Braintree resident Bob Brady, president of the 660-member BBHA and its newsletter editor, said Altison was the “heart and soul’’ of the association. He was content to call himself its business manager, Brady said, “but he was so much more than that.’’

Wisnia said the BBHA hopes to have another reunion this fall to honor Altison and the Braves in conjunction with the Boston chapter of the Society of American Baseball Research, of which he and Brady are members.

“It won’t be the same without George,’’ Wisnia said, “but we’ll have a chance to give his family a replica of the brick and a portrait of George and cheer him one more time for all he’s done.’’

Go to www.boston-braves.com for details on the association.