Baseball Memories
I attended my first major league baseball game in 1965 when my family made a trip from Topeka, Kansas, to watch the Kansas City A’s play in the old municipal stadium in downtown Kansas City.
I don’t remember who the A’s played that night or any of their players — except for Campy Campaneris — but I remember very clearly the mule Charlie O., the team mascot. Charlie O. was named after A’s owner Charles O. Finley, who was something of a Barnum & Bailey-style team owner. I also remember that instead of a ball boy delivering new baseballs to the home plate umpire, a device would rise out of the ground behind home plate with a basket of baseballs served up on the outraised arm of a mechanical rabbit named Harvey (yes, after the Jimmy Stewart movie). The A’s stunk, but Mr. Finley wanted patrons to have a good time.
The A’s left for Oakland, California, after the 1967 season, and Kansas City was left without a baseball team until 1969 when the Kansas City Royals arrived, and a fancy new stadium was built. The Royals had a lot of success in the late 1970s, but lost three straight years in the American League Championship series to the dreaded New York Yankees — their formidable rival. Those Royals teams had great players including Frank White at second base, Freddie Patek at short, Amos Otis and Willie Wilson in the outfield, and, of course, the incomparable George Brett at third.
When I moved to Colorado in the mid-1980s, I continued to be a Royals fan until Denver was awarded the Colorado Rockies franchise and they began to play in 1993. I’ve been a Rockies fan ever since, although heaven knows in recent years that seems to be something of a fool’s errand. While listening to a recent Rockies game, however, I was reminded why I continue to love baseball: It takes me back to my youth.
On June 10, the Rockies took a 5-2 lead into the top of the ninth against the San Francisco Giants. Aided by walks and wild pitches, the Giants rallied to score four runs, capped by a two-out, two-run single by Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski. For those of us who grew up with baseball in the 1960s, the Yastrzemski name is legendary. Mike’s grandfather, Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, was one of the all-time greats for the Boston Red Sox. “Yaz,” as he was known, was an 18-time All-Star, a member of the 3,000-hit club, and the winner of seven Gold Glove awards. My mother, an avid baseball fan who listened to every Royals game on the radio with my dad, was always amused trying to pronounce the names of some of those mid-60s Red Sox players including Yastrzemski, Rico Petrocelli, and Tony Conigliaro.
So, while we suffer through another tough Rockies season, we can at least be reminded of the links to the past and hope for better days ahead. There’s always next year!
Kent Singer is the executive director of CREA and offers a statewide perspective on issues affecting electric cooperatives. CREA is the trade association for 21 Colorado electric distribution co-ops and one power supply co-op.