The only thing that took the chill off during those below zero weather days were the two Hot Stove baseball parties I attended, both in the same week.

The Syracuse SkyChiefs held their 44th annual baseball gathering Jan. 27 at the Holiday Inn in Syracuse, while the Auburn Doubledays attracted a capacity crowd to its Hot Stove fete Friday at the Sunset.

Several hundred turned out for the SkyChiefs' affair, which is mainly a speaking program. The D-days' was a complete dinner, with silent auction, scores of door prizes and guest speakers. Honoring Vince Klein was the evening's highlight.

I had a real treat at the Syracuse party as I met an old baseball friend of 25 years - Tom Mattimore, better known as the "Village Batsmith."

For the past 30 years, Tom has made a good living carving out names in baseball bats. Mattimore, who always operated a one-man business, has constructed bats for every major league team plus hundreds of ball players.

Tom, who is now in his 70s, told me he still keeps busy on a much smaller scale: "My big business today is making special bats for all minor league All-Star games," he said.

Tom still purchases his cedar bats from the Adirondack Bat Co., located in Dolgeville. He started his business in a very small shop, near his home in North Syracuse, and has never expanded.

I always enjoyed watching the clever designer in action. First he traces letters of the recipient's name from a stencil on a piece of paper. He sticks that to the bat.

He then removes the bat's core, carves in the letters, sands them smooth, and then replaces the core with tiny dowels. You have to look hard to find them. Mattimore then lacquers the bat and attaches a brace plate on the barrel, noting the occasion for which the bat was given.

Tom always said he didn't worry about competition, because it's a craft.

"Plus it's hard work and can't be automated," he said. "Making a single bat takes half a day or so. I go at my own pace - it's one of the beauties of working for myself."

He said once he shrugged off a chance to make 7,000 bats for Chrysler, just as easily as he said no to Coca-Cola's request to make a few hundred.

Mattimore came up with the idea of trophy bats in 1977 after he read an article about the Comet Bat Co. in Mannsville. He told me the first bat ever made was for the Comet Co.

I first met Tom during the baseball winter meetings in 1980 in Dallas. One of the first talented persons to purchase a bat was Bryant Gumbel, who was co-host of the Today show. Among the first top athletes to receive Tom's personalized bats were Joe DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto and Bucky Dent. During World Series TV coverage one year, former first lady Nancy Reagan was presented one of his bats

I also have one of his bats given to me at my retirement dinner in 1983 by the board of directors of the ball club. It is one of the prized possessions in my baseball room.

Mattimore also has an old Syracuse Chiefs schedule that he handprinted with the reason he is in business in the first place: "Master of My Own Fate."