George Altison; co-founded Boston Braves group
George Altison, co-founder of The Boston Braves Historical Society, grew up two blocks from Braves Field. A plaque was placed at the site of the old ballpark. (Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff/File 2003)
As a 10-year-old Boston Braves baseball fan and loyal member of the team’s “Knothole Gang,'’ George Altison paid 50 cents in annual dues for admission to the left field pavilion at Braves Field, two blocks from his home in Allston. …
But while stationed with the Air Force in Okinawa in 1953, Mr. Altison received bad news in a letter from his father, Peter, who owned The New Park Vale Caf near Braves Field. George’s beloved Braves were moving to Milwaukee because of poor attendance.
“I couldn’t believe it,'’ Mr. Altison recalled in a 1997 interview with the Globe. “To us fans, that was tough. Teams just didn’t move back then. I felt like an orphan because I had no team.'’
But Mr. Altison made sure the Braves - whose cousins twice removed, the Atlanta Braves, played the Red Sox at Fenway Park over the weekend - were not forgotten.
The longtime Marlborough resident cofounded the Boston Braves Historical Association in 1992 and was a prime mover in arranging annual Braves reunions in Boston and Brookline and establishing the Boston Braves Hall of Fame.
Mr. Altison, who served as the association’s business manager and was its link to former Braves players and team officials, died Friday at his home from complications of pneumonia. He was 79.
“George was the keeper of the Braves flame,'’ New England Sports Museum curator Richard Johnson said in a 2003 Globe story. “Citizen Kane had his sled, and George has his Boston Braves.'’
After the museum hosted a Braves reunion in 1988, Mr. Altison helped organize a group of former Braves fans that started the Boston Braves Historical Association, now comprising more than 500 members, many living outside New England and some in other countries.
In addition to its annual meeting and player reunions - including Braves fan favorites from the 1940s and 1950s such as the late Johnny Sain, Warren Spahn, Sibby Sisti, Sam Jethroe, and Tommy Holmes - the group publishes a newsletter, contributes to a baseball website, and sponsors research publications.