Yesterday one of my former students had a Facebook entry about how ancient it made her feel to know that she’s older than some of the Kansas City Royals baseball players, one whose birth date was listed as 1986 on the stadium Jumbo-tron. She was a high school graduate in 1999, so she’s probably all of 28. She shouldn't feel so badly--I invented baseball!!! Okay, slight exaggeration, but I do remember when the baseball team in Kansas City wasn’t called the Royals but the Athletics.
When I was a grade school fan, I’d hop a train in Chanute with Big Sis and Beans and a bunch of other people. We’d get off at Union Station in downtown Kansas City, board a bus, and take a short drive to the Athletics’ ball park, also downtown, to see the local guys host the New York Yankees. This was in the late 1950s to early 1960s when the Yankees were the gods of all baseball and had won a bazillion World Series championships. Casey Stengel was their manager, and among the team heroes were Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Moose Skowron, Roger Maris, and Whitey Ford. Oh, man, was I in heaven.
I have no clue how much the fare and ball tickets cost, but Mama Bore somehow made sure we kids got to go on this summer sojourn, and we always had a little extra for a program, hot dog, and souvenir. Decisions, decisions. What would I buy? One year it was a pennant; another year it was a mini baseball bat probably 12 inches long. It was my Beans Protector.
The summer of 1961, Mantle and his outfield teammate Maris were in a friendly race to try to become the new homerun king, hoping to surpass Babe Ruth’s long-standing record. "Sixty-one in '61" was constantly in the news. The Life magazine cover pictured above was on my bedroom wall, north side, and no matter where I lay on my bed I could swear Roger’s eyes were (sigh!) always gazing at me. I was all of 12 at the time. Now, that’s ancient history!
3 comments:
oh no!! did you stalk roger and mick too???
No, Dr. M., I had to get hooked up with you before I came a baseball player stalker!!! Ah, who can forget when we tried trick-or-treating at George Brett's former house in your former neighborhood!!
Okay, point made! ;) I just still feel like they should all still be older than me! What fun memories, and you're lucky that you got to make them! The idea of letting my kiddo go to the K with only a group of other kids -- even at 12 -- just about sends me into a cold sweat!! And we even live in KC! Oh, how the world has changed...
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