THE BASEBALL HISTORY COMES ALIVE BLOG

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August 23, 2022

New Blog Topic: 

Do You Have An Interesting Story About Meeting a Former Major Leaguer?

If So, Let’s Hear it!

Many thanks to Ray Banko for coming up with a neat idea. Ray suggested it would be interesting to encourage our readers to share their personal remembrances, encounters, and/or experiences with former major league ballplayers.

As Ray said:  “It could be as mundane as obtaining an autograph, a chance meeting, or one that actually entailed a relationship.” And I would add, it doesn’t have to be positive…we’d like to hear negative experiences too! If you ever asked a former player for an autograph, and he brushed you off with a curt, “Get outta here, kid,” well, we’d like to hear that too!

I Love the Personal Stuff!

I think Ray’s idea is great, especially since I’m always looking for ways to make the website more interactive. And I always love reading about the “personal stuff.”  A while back I wrote an entire essay about the time I met Rogers Hornsby when I was a kid. You might want to check out.

I’m going to start things off with the information Ray shared with me. I’ll sticky this post to the home page of the website; and then, as Ray suggested, I invite you, our readers, to share any personal encounters you’ve had with former ballplayers.

Leave your responses in the comments section below. I’ll keep this going and hopefully, it’ll turn into an interesting ongoing blog post.

Remember, your responses don’t have to be elaborate…a few sentences describing your experience is fine. But if you want to go “all out” and write a couple paragraphs, that’s OK too. Then the readers—and myself—can, in turn, leave comments about your information.

Ray’s Banko Meets Al Milnar…and Jimmie Foxx!

“I personally knew the pitcher (a life-long friend of my father’s) in which DiMaggio extended his famous streak to 56 games at Cleveland’s League Park, Al Milnar. Al was a very humble man with a sense of humor.  When he described that day, he said “I almost ended his streak.  He only got me for 3 hits that day!’  I had many conversations with Al over the years about his days (nine years—one as an All-Star—in the big leagues).  I ran into Bob Feller at Cleveland Hopkins Airport and asked him for an autograph (that’s a story in itself) and mentioned that I knew Al Milnar. Feller gazed off into the distance and said, ‘a big lefty’.”

“Also, our Little League had Jimmie Foxx for our Opening Day.  Because of my dad, I was the only little leaguer that was allowed to accompany the adults’ get-togethers after the festivities.  I remember that day

vividly. This was back in 1964, and the bottle had clearly gotten the best of Jimmie by then. Because of that, I recall that day, unfortunately, with a degree of sadness.  Even though I was only 12 years old, I remember thinking how difficult it must be to be such a star with all of that glory, and then one day it all ends.  What could top all of the experiences that these men had?”

Thanks, Ray! These are great stories and they’re exactly what I’m looking for. And so, again, I invite you, our readers, to share any similar experiences you’ve had meeting former big leaguers – good or bad – in the comments section below.

Let’s hear about it!

(Featured photo of Jimmie Foxx beautifully colorized by our resident baseball artist, Don Stokes)

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