For instance: My Uncle Pat stood in line at Eastgate Mall in Chattanooga, TN, on a rainy weekday in June, 1969, all for the goal of obtaining Mantle's autographs for his two nephews. Mickey Mantle was opening up a Men's clothing store in the mall and of course he was the main attraction on this opening day.
Uncle Pat said the line was very long and full of children and teenagers who should have been at school, unlike the obedient and/or forced-to-attend classes children like my brother and me. I mean, come on!!! Mickey "The Mick" Mantle was signing autographs in our city!! The Yankee great who was one of the two greatest sport stars in baseball in the 1950's and 60's!
Now, fully recognizing that time has probably altered and exaggerated the circumstances of that day, nevertheless because of his efforts, Uncle Pat became the hero of all our heroes. The treasure he acquired after his tribulation at the mall, and after much patience and fortitude, were two signed pictures of the Bronx Bomber himself! Holding that picture in my hands I tried to connect the dots of my limited reality. World Series icon, Home Run King, Mickey Mantle had touched this picture, with his own hands, and signed my name!!!! It was almost impossible to conceive of such a thing. And yet, here it was, right in front of my eyes. The myth became real and I can't recall a greater moment of childhood joy.
Now, fully recognizing that time has probably altered and exaggerated the circumstances of that day, nevertheless because of his efforts, Uncle Pat became the hero of all our heroes. The treasure he acquired after his tribulation at the mall, and after much patience and fortitude, were two signed pictures of the Bronx Bomber himself! Holding that picture in my hands I tried to connect the dots of my limited reality. World Series icon, Home Run King, Mickey Mantle had touched this picture, with his own hands, and signed my name!!!! It was almost impossible to conceive of such a thing. And yet, here it was, right in front of my eyes. The myth became real and I can't recall a greater moment of childhood joy.
Alas, like many of my childhood treasures, the current whereabouts of this priceless artifact is not currently known . . .
Shifting gears, did you know that in the 60's and 70's the World Series was played during the day? This was actually a awesome gift to bored school children as it also was to our equally grateful teachers. They would gladly exert the effort needed to drag in a A/V cart into the classroom where we could watch the game during normal classroom time! Many awesome memories of that time remain but the greatest was watching Brooks Robinson of the Orioles play third base in 1970. I lost track of the number of hits he stole from the Reds during that series but all I knew was I had never seen anyone play third base like that in my life. The worst memory of that time was that it seemed like every other team was playing in the Fall Classic except my Atlanta Braves. (The closest they got during that time was 1969 before being swept by the "Miracle Mets".)
Shifting gears once again, one of my favorite sports writers is Joe Posnanski and in January of this year he started counting down the Top 100 players of All-Time. This effort has been an wonderful distraction during this COVID-19 season and as he got closer to revealing his Top 5 players the rhetoric between all of his readers and the anticipated order of the final five started heating up.
Shifting gears, did you know that in the 60's and 70's the World Series was played during the day? This was actually a awesome gift to bored school children as it also was to our equally grateful teachers. They would gladly exert the effort needed to drag in a A/V cart into the classroom where we could watch the game during normal classroom time! Many awesome memories of that time remain but the greatest was watching Brooks Robinson of the Orioles play third base in 1970. I lost track of the number of hits he stole from the Reds during that series but all I knew was I had never seen anyone play third base like that in my life. The worst memory of that time was that it seemed like every other team was playing in the Fall Classic except my Atlanta Braves. (The closest they got during that time was 1969 before being swept by the "Miracle Mets".)
Shifting gears once again, one of my favorite sports writers is Joe Posnanski and in January of this year he started counting down the Top 100 players of All-Time. This effort has been an wonderful distraction during this COVID-19 season and as he got closer to revealing his Top 5 players the rhetoric between all of his readers and the anticipated order of the final five started heating up.
When Barry Bonds was unveiled as Joe's pick for the 3rd best player of all-time, half of America became unglued. Maybe it's my dogmatic nature but I wouldn't include a player who cheated for a substantial part of his career in my Top 5 players of all-time. Barry Bonds cheated, elevating his own performance and forcing those who didn't cheat to possibly lose not only salary earnings related to their performance but possibly their job itself. Cheaters should never be rewarded for their dishonesty and my personal opinion was that this ranking was a black eye on this whole list.
And yet, I find one other person on his list impossible to discard quite so easily. If it were up to me I would probably have already elected Pete Rose to the Hall of Fame and he broke the number one rule of baseball, (No, I'm not talking about crying in baseball . . . ) I'm referring to the "No Gambling" rule which is posted in every major league teams dugouts. My rationalization has always been that since he bet on his own team, maybe he didn't truly covert the heart of the no gambling rule. Or maybe, like so many are with Barry Bonds, I'm blinded by the memories of his time on the field and as such its easier to turn a blind eye to the breaking of rules.
So, perhaps I'm not so dogmatic in my beliefs as I thought . . .
Anyway, here is Joe's Top 5 of All Time:
1) Willie Mays
2) Babe Ruth
3) Barry Bonds
4) Henry Aaron
5) Oscar Charleston
and here is My Top 5 Baseball Players of All Time:
1) Babe Ruth
2) Henry Aaron
3) Willie Mays
4) Ty Cobb
5) Brooks Robinson
Where is Mickey Mantle you might ask? Evaluating Mickey's career through the prism of age and experience I recognize now that through a mixture of his own self-destroying habits and an injury he experienced early in his career Mickey wasn't the all-time great that I once thought he was. Even now writing those words hurt a little bit as I recognize the pull that Mantle had on my childhood psyche.
Anyway, here is Joe's Top 5 of All Time:
1) Willie Mays
2) Babe Ruth
3) Barry Bonds
4) Henry Aaron
5) Oscar Charleston
and here is My Top 5 Baseball Players of All Time:
1) Babe Ruth
2) Henry Aaron
3) Willie Mays
4) Ty Cobb
5) Brooks Robinson
Where is Mickey Mantle you might ask? Evaluating Mickey's career through the prism of age and experience I recognize now that through a mixture of his own self-destroying habits and an injury he experienced early in his career Mickey wasn't the all-time great that I once thought he was. Even now writing those words hurt a little bit as I recognize the pull that Mantle had on my childhood psyche.
As with most things, what we assigned great worth to as children is rarely what we attribute value to as adults.
