Behind
the great oak bar of the Boston based pub
"Cheers" on the sitcom series
CHEERS/NBC/1982-93, there was a black & white
photograph of a baseball pitcher, supposedly Sam
Malone (Ted Danson), the program's leading
character who used to be a relief pitcher for
the Red Sox. It was not Sam, however, but a
photograph of real-life baseball player, Jim
Lonborg who pitched for the Boston Red Sox from
1965-71 and who later became a Boston dentist.
Both Sam and Jim wore No 16 on their jerseys.In a 1987 episode, Sam Malone gave
the photograph away as a keepsake to Woody Boyd
(Woody Harrelson), a bartender at Cheers, when
he thought Woody had to move home to Indiana. At
the last minute, Woody stayed and so did the
photo.
On the series 1993 finale episode, Sam
Malone closes his bar for the night. As he moves
through his establishment, he stops at a
photograph of legendary 19th Apache Indian
leader
Geronimo
that is hanging crooked on the wall. Adjusting
the photograph to level, Sam departs.
The photograph originally hung in the
dressing room of actor Nicholas Colasanto who played bartender Ernie
"Coach Pantusso. When he (and his
character) died in 19865, the photograph became
part of the
studio set.
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