BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME

Batter Up Speakies:

I never wrote much about baseball, I guess it’s because the Phillies are playing against the Yankees in the World Series starting tonight. I’m sure we all have memories about playing baseball, going to games or drifting off in that hammock dreaming of smacking that game winning homerun or pitching that no hitter. I have some fond memories of baseball myself. When I was a young JoeyZ we played sponge ball in the parking lot of a Food Fair after it closed for the day, too many houses around for hard ball. We bought the white sponge type balls at the local 5 & 10 cent store for 25 cents each and by the end of the game it no white cover left. We played everyday except for Saturday and Sunday. As the guys in the neighborhood got older we hiked down the road to a grass field and the hard balls came out for the real thing. When I belonged to the Boys Club we played Wiffle Ball and had set teams, one summer I had the homerun record. We even played handball, throw the ball in the air and bat it with your fist.

In the summer evenings I remember watching the Yankees play on Channel 11 from NYC. Red Barber, Mel Allen calling the play by play and all those Piels Brothers beer commercials in between. Watching the likes of Mickey, Roger, Yogi and the rest of the Yankees win and win. Most of all I remember my Dad and his friend along with his son going to those Saturday or Sunday games in Philadelphia. Driving down Roosevelt Blvd, heading to North Philly and walking to Connie Mack Stadium. To me it looked like the Roman Coliseum extending almost an entire city block. I saw the likes of Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, Curt Farrell and one of my favorites Chico Fernandez. I can still smell the grass and taste the steamed hotdogs. I remember the night we had tickets for a double header. It was the last 2 games of the season and Richie Ashburn beat out Roberto Clemente for the NL batting championship.

I remember seeing the joy in my son’s eyes as Roe and I took them to Veteran’s Stadium many a times for a baseball game. The proud and fond memories of seeing them play little league ball. Baseball makes some dreams come true, but for most of us it brings us great memories of times we really enjoyed. Send me your feelings or just sit back and recall your memories and share them with someone close.