Just a little Monday morning football distraction...
In 1964 we moved from Plainview, TX to Montrose, CA (Los Angeles County) when I was 9 y.o. My Dad had been the manager at American Grain Co. in Plainview which was owned by Billy Sol Estes. Long story short, Estes was running a fertilizer short and got shut down by the Feds before he could cover the position. Resulted in Estes' assets being seized. My Grandad and Grandma had moved from KS to CA in 1960 to find work, so my Dad decided we'd pack up and follow suit after the Estes debacle. We had barely enough money to get by...chip beef and cream gravy was a staple. My Dad and Grandad were big baseball fans and whenever we had a little cash (I think the outfield bleacher were $5 bucks a seat) we'd make the 10 minute drive to Chávez Ravine (Dodger Stadium) and watch the Dodgers. During the 5 years we lived in SoCal I probably got to go to 15 Dodgers games. The rest of the games I'd listen to on a transistor radio with a single earpiece and the epic voice of Vince Scully doing the play-by-play.
I had a paper route throwing the LA Times newspaper. The Times had a contest one summer that whoever sold the most subscriptions got 3 1st base line tickets to the Dodgers vs Giants game. I won that sucker going away and took my Dad and Grandad to the game. Willie Mays took a golf ball swing at a low slider and went yard with it over the right field wall in that game. I got to see a lot of the Dodger greats play in person...Koufax, Drysdale, Roseboro, Wills, Parker, Osteen, Tommy and Willie Davis, Gilliam, Lefebvre. I loved baseball and my dream was to play outfield for the Dodgers...problem was just didn't have the talent. But, as a kid in my Dodger dream world, I made many great catches in the outfield and gunned down runners at home...hit HR's in the bottom of the 9th down 2 with runners on the corners and a full count. I'm 69 and those memories are as vivid as they were as a kid.
Writing this brings back some of the most memorable times I had as a kid...getting to watch the Dodgers play with my Dad and Grandad...
So that's my story of being a Die-Hard Dodgers Fan and this last Saturday and Sunday and hopefully this week the Bums will win it all again!
In 1964 we moved from Plainview, TX to Montrose, CA (Los Angeles County) when I was 9 y.o. My Dad had been the manager at American Grain Co. in Plainview which was owned by Billy Sol Estes. Long story short, Estes was running a fertilizer short and got shut down by the Feds before he could cover the position. Resulted in Estes' assets being seized. My Grandad and Grandma had moved from KS to CA in 1960 to find work, so my Dad decided we'd pack up and follow suit after the Estes debacle. We had barely enough money to get by...chip beef and cream gravy was a staple. My Dad and Grandad were big baseball fans and whenever we had a little cash (I think the outfield bleacher were $5 bucks a seat) we'd make the 10 minute drive to Chávez Ravine (Dodger Stadium) and watch the Dodgers. During the 5 years we lived in SoCal I probably got to go to 15 Dodgers games. The rest of the games I'd listen to on a transistor radio with a single earpiece and the epic voice of Vince Scully doing the play-by-play.
I had a paper route throwing the LA Times newspaper. The Times had a contest one summer that whoever sold the most subscriptions got 3 1st base line tickets to the Dodgers vs Giants game. I won that sucker going away and took my Dad and Grandad to the game. Willie Mays took a golf ball swing at a low slider and went yard with it over the right field wall in that game. I got to see a lot of the Dodger greats play in person...Koufax, Drysdale, Roseboro, Wills, Parker, Osteen, Tommy and Willie Davis, Gilliam, Lefebvre. I loved baseball and my dream was to play outfield for the Dodgers...problem was just didn't have the talent. But, as a kid in my Dodger dream world, I made many great catches in the outfield and gunned down runners at home...hit HR's in the bottom of the 9th down 2 with runners on the corners and a full count. I'm 69 and those memories are as vivid as they were as a kid.
Writing this brings back some of the most memorable times I had as a kid...getting to watch the Dodgers play with my Dad and Grandad...
So that's my story of being a Die-Hard Dodgers Fan and this last Saturday and Sunday and hopefully this week the Bums will win it all again!
