Growing up in Venice, Florida, there really wasn't a major league baseball team nearby to root for. Now this was the 1950s, no Marlins, no Rays, no Atlanta Braves, etc. No teams really close to southwest Florida to call "ours", so you had to make due with what you could off the Saturday Game of the Week, local newspapers, and sports magazines. Didn't take me long, around 1955 or so, to figure out the New York Yankees were the best of the best, they had the original TV Sports Superstar in Mickey Mantle....so Hell, I was a Yankee fan....and I followed the Bronx Bombers until about 1964, when after moving back to Ohio, I began rooting for the Cincinnati Reds....once "The Mick" retired, that was the end of my love affair with the Yankees...but it was a fun ride. To this day, Mickey Mantle, human warts and all, remains my all time favorite player, in any sport.
Last night, I turned on the tube to watch the end of Yankee Stadium on ESPN...without interest on who won or lost. NY won 7-3 over Baltimore, keeping the razor thin chances of making the playoffs alive...this years addition will not be participating in the Playoffs...unless Boston, the hated Red Sox would lose their final 6 games and the Yanks win there final 7, thus forcing a playoff. Sitting there watching Yogi and highlights from the past, I managed to go deep back into my memories, of those childhood days, growing up on the Gulf Coast. Sweet they were.
I did a JV game at Waynesfied Saturday, and a Rec Department double header at Celina yesterday with Sam...the weather is back to dry, somewhat humid, and typical later summer/early fall weather.....now that the weather is supposed to cool down, can't see that in the near future forecast, I have decided to get out and do some "yard" work, and a little painting. So, I will oil up the chain saw, buy a couple of new paint brushes, and once the humidity drops....start at it. A couple of evergreen trees have to go, some bushes need major trimmings and the Ivy in the back side of the property needs cut down. Then paint the east side of needs a re-do...that side gets a direct hit from the sun, and fades quicker. I will also do the back(south) side and some trim work.....the rest will wait until next spring, summer, or maybe early fall...after all, I'm retired, and can do it whenever I darn well feel.
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Freshman game at Celina tonight. Anissa is home with me with a cold, so will work around the homestead until about 3.
Back Later>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
photos-Me and brother Mike with the Venice Elks 1957....Childhood Hero Mickey Mantle at Yankee Stadium in the 1950s. And Yankee Stadium in the beginning.
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4 comments:
Perhaps it's just an Ol' Fart reaction, but I do get wistful when a MAJOR landmark falls. I felt the same way when Tiger Stadium went, even if it was a bit of a pit at the end. But there were ghosts...
I regret that I never made it to yankee stadium, I have been to see a yankee orioles game in baltimore, a lot of memories are in that stadium, they will last forever. I did a post about this also.
Cool post brutha. Wish I'd had the chance to check that place out.
my brother's mother in law, Irene, baby sat Micky Mantle's kids when she lived in NYC. So when Mantle's son David came out wearing his dad's jersey, that was the kid all grown up.
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