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| Mark Teixeira / Chris Ptacek - Wikimedia Commons |
Monday, August 9, 2010
Mark Teixeira makes his way into the history books with his 25th home run
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Hiroshima's Masato Akamatsu makes one of the greatest catches ever
Masato Akamatsu put himself into the record books August 3rd in a match between the Yokohama Bay Stars and Hiroshima Carp of Japan's Central League. Due to the wide reaches of internet broadcasting, Akamtsu's Spiderman-like routine will be forever etched into the memories of baseball fans. Performing a feat previously unseen, Akamatsu, an outfielder for the Hiroshima Carp robbed Yokohama's Shuichi Murata of a homerun by scaling the top of the wall with both feet, timing his leap correctly to catch the ball in stride. Some have argued that it rivals Willie Mays' catch in the 1954 World Series, and while that might be debatable, what isn't is the skill and grace with which Akamatsu made the catch.
Recommended Reading
Recommended Reading
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Darryl Strawberry's Sports Grill grand opening a star studded affair
Wednesday night marked the opening of Darryl Strawberry's Sports Grill in Douglaston, a short cry from the stadium where he built his legend. Situated next to the LIRR stop in Douglaston, the establishment is easily accessible via public transportation and both the Long Island Expressway and Grand Central Parkway.
Partnered with Eytan Sugarman who owns Southern Hospitality BBQ and Justin Timberlake, the two have created an enclave in Queens where families and baseball fans can enjoy great food and New York baseball memorabilia. Omnipresent when you enter are Strawberry's locker from Shea Stadium and two adjacent stadium seats from his former Mets home.
The menu sampling was impressive which included zesty pork sliders, crawfish and cheddar hushpuppies, buffalo shrimp, BBQ chicken and ribs, as well as what they call their "championship chili," which had the right blend of sweet and spicy.
Equally impressive was the mix of sports stars and celebrities for the celebration. Hall of Famer Whitey Ford, Doc Gooden, Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams, Mickey Rivers, Bobby Valentine and current Yankees Nick Swisher and David Robertson were there to lend support to Strawberry's endeavor, as well as former New York Knick John Starks, Miss USA Rima Fakih, the aforementioned Timberlake, Ali Fedotowsky of the Bachlorette, and Karina Smirnoff from Dancing with the Stars.
The event began rather innocently with Strawberry making the rounds while the guests sampled the generous food and drink for the evening. Things started to get a little hairy as the celebrities and debutantes entered the building. A free flowing event took the aura of a crowded Manhattan nightclub, with the clientele to match. The crowd of press, family, and friends was forced into the bar area to accommodate the VIP section, blocking off the narrow conduit between the bar and the main bathrooms. A bit of chaos ensued as people tried to jockey for position to take photographs of Timberlake and attempt to travel to the other side of the restaurant.
Aside of the glitz and glamour of the opening night crowd, Strawberry's Grill served up a robust menu of American fare and memorabilia that will please a wide variety of palates and the most sentimental of baseball enthusiasts.
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| Justin Timberlake (center) with Darryl Strawberry (r.) / Nick Diunte |
Partnered with Eytan Sugarman who owns Southern Hospitality BBQ and Justin Timberlake, the two have created an enclave in Queens where families and baseball fans can enjoy great food and New York baseball memorabilia. Omnipresent when you enter are Strawberry's locker from Shea Stadium and two adjacent stadium seats from his former Mets home.
The menu sampling was impressive which included zesty pork sliders, crawfish and cheddar hushpuppies, buffalo shrimp, BBQ chicken and ribs, as well as what they call their "championship chili," which had the right blend of sweet and spicy.
Equally impressive was the mix of sports stars and celebrities for the celebration. Hall of Famer Whitey Ford, Doc Gooden, Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams, Mickey Rivers, Bobby Valentine and current Yankees Nick Swisher and David Robertson were there to lend support to Strawberry's endeavor, as well as former New York Knick John Starks, Miss USA Rima Fakih, the aforementioned Timberlake, Ali Fedotowsky of the Bachlorette, and Karina Smirnoff from Dancing with the Stars.
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| Tino Martinez, Darryl Strawberry, and Bernie Williams (N. Diunte) |
Aside of the glitz and glamour of the opening night crowd, Strawberry's Grill served up a robust menu of American fare and memorabilia that will please a wide variety of palates and the most sentimental of baseball enthusiasts.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Book Review: Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O'Malley, Baseball's Most Controversial Owner
Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O'Malley, Baseball's Most Controversial Owner and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles
Michael D'AntonioRiverhead, 2010
400 pp.
In the hearts of Brooklyn baseball fans, the name Walter O'Malley evokes painful memories of the Dodgers being uprooted from Ebbets Field and moving to the far extremes of the West Coast. For the citizens of Los Angeles, O'Malley represents a forward thinking visionary who lead the progress of Major League Baseball to grow with our nation's westward expansion.
In "Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O'Malley, Baseball's Most Controversial Owner and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles", Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael D'Antonio paints an in-depth account of O'Malley's life that goes beyond the Dodgers moving out of Brooklyn.
D'Antonio explores how O'Malley ascended the ranks as the son of a Tammany Hall pol to become one of the most influential lawyers for the Brooklyn Trust Company. It was there with the Brooklyn Trust Company that O'Malley would enter the foray of Brooklyn Dodger ownership, buying shares of the company in 1944.
Great and exciting detail is given to how O'Malley positioned himself to purchase the controlling shares of the Brooklyn Dodgers, including those of general manager Branch Rickey. With complete control of the Dodgers ballclub, he lobbied tirelessly to keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn. It is during this period that he would meet his greatest rival, Robert Moses, the powerful head of city planning. The two would engage in an embattled series of exchanges that would eventually lead O'Malley looking to California's greener pastures.
For the truly die-hard Brooklyn Dodger fans, the story might as well end here, as they could no longer cope with seeing the Dodger Blue wear jerseys that represented such a far away city. For the readers of "Forever Blue ..." this is just where the story picks up, as O'Malley has his own set of challenges moving the Dodgers to Los Angeles. See how he maneuvers through various lawsuits and city referendums before being able to build Dodger Stadium to the tune of $20 million.
D'Antonio does his best to devillify O'Malley as the leading cause for the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn. He is presented as a sharp businessman who dealt heavily with the politicos of his time to advance the positioning of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The book drags initially with an overload of information on O'Malley's upbringing and formative years. While necessary to develop the scope of O'Malley's persona, the real crux of the action begins when O'Malley gains his first stake in the Dodgers and continues his maneuvers until he has complete control of the ballclub. It is at this point where baseball fans will take interest in the rest of the details of his journey.
Monday, August 2, 2010
2nd Annual BEST Sports Celebrity Golf Tournament August 15-16, 2010, Delware Water Gap, PA
Golf with former MLB players Tommy John, Jim Eisenreich, Bobby Shantz, Mike Pagliarulo, Bill Madlock and many others as they lend their support to benefit the BEST "Building Education Support Teams" scholarship fund. BEST offers scholarships to high school students in the Lehigh Valley area.
The event will be held on Sunday, August 15 and Monday, August 16 at the Water Gap Country Club, Delaware Water Gap, PA. There will be a "Meet and Greet" reception and silent auction of baseball memorabilia and other items from 6:00-8:00pm on Sunday with limited open bar and hors d’oeuvres. Tickets are available for $60.00.
Monday’s events start with a buffet breakfast and registration at 8:30am followed by a shotgun start at 10:00am. The day will conclude with a cocktail reception and buffet at 3:00pm. Cost: $150 per golfer.
To register or for information about sponsorship opportunities, contact Judy Tierney at 610-504-4239 or juti43@rcn.com.
BEST was founded in 2008 by Billy Staples and Judy Tierney as an attempt to aid students in need of financial assistance to fulfill their dreams and goals of obtaining a college education. Students must maintain a 2.8 GPA while enrolled in college. They are required to select a volunteer mentor who reports on his or her performance to the scholarship board. Upon completion of their studies, they are asked to return and work in their community for two years.
For more information about BEST, please visit their website - www.thebestscholars.org
Friday, July 30, 2010
Jim Gentile Interview | Winning the 1961 American League RBI crown almost 50 years later
At age 76, Jim Gentile now owns his rightful share of the 1961 RBI crown due to the work of some faithful researchers. No, the Orioles did not put Gentile in the way-back machine to have him add to his league-leading RBI total in 1961; however, SABR member Ron Rakowski discovered the official scorer of the July 5, 1961 game between the Indians and Yankees erroneously gave Roger Maris two RBIs instead of the one that he earned that day.
Forty-nine years later the change has become official, much to Gentile's chagrin.
“Well, I wish it would have happened 49 years ago, but you know I guess they have these people that go back and check things," Gentile said via telephone from his home in Edmond, Oklahoma. "I was told of this 15 years ago, but nothing was ever done. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it. A sportswriter told me that he had gone back, checked, and found where the error was made, the scorekeeper sent in two instead of one. I said, 'Well that's fine, but there is nothing you can do about that now.' I guess they decided to change it. It's nice, nice for my kids and grandkids. They can look it up years from now and say that my granddad did something.”
Nineteen-sixty-one holds a special place for baseball fans, as Roger Maris made baseball history when he surpassed Babe Ruth's single-season home run record with 61 round-trippers. For Gentile, it earmarked a career year after toiling in the minor leagues.
“It seemed like just about everything clicked," he said. "It seemed like when I hit a ball, it went out of the park. Everything was going right.”
With six players hitting over 40 home runs that season, some fans speculated that the American League expansion caused his surge in power. Gentile strongly refutes that claim.
Gentile had a long climb to the big leagues, starting out as a pitcher and first baseman in Class C Santa Barbara after signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952. He quickly discovered that there was a tremendous difference in having success as a pitcher in professional baseball compared to facing high school lineups.
“I signed in 1952 out of high school," he said. "I got a good bonus as a pitcher. I wasn't a pitcher. I could throw hard. I didn't know anything about a curveball. In high school, you know you could throw hard and get away with it. They sent me to Santa Barbara. I didn't do well as a starter. I did better as a reliever and I still only had a three-something ERA. The next year they asked me if I wanted to come back as a first baseman or pitcher. I told them I would come back as a first baseman.”
After a few seasons of leading his clubs in home runs and RBIs, Gentile thought that management would deem him worthy of a look in Brooklyn. He recalled a spirited exchange with general manager Buzzie Bavasi that was typical of an executive attempting to shuffle a crowded minor league system.
The next season held tremendous significance for both Gentile and the New York baseball faithful. Nineteen-fifty-seven marked the last season that the Dodgers and Giants would call New York their home. For Gentile, it was the humble beginnings of a nine-year big league career.
“They brought me up in 1957," he said. "I was sitting in my locker after infield and all of a sudden, the captain Reese came up to me and said, 'Diamond, you're playing.' I said 'What!?' He said, 'Yeah Diamond, you're playing today.' We were playing the Phillies and Robin Roberts. First time up, I was safe on an error. The second time up, we were ahead by one and I hit my first home run off of him, upper deck center field in Ebbets Field. Years later in Baltimore, someone made a pencil drawing of Roberts pitching and he signed it for me and said, 'So you won't forget who you hit your first home run off of.' I have it hanging in my office.”
Gentile had another cup of coffee in 1958 with the newly minted Los Angeles Dodgers but didn't fare well in the cavernous Los Angeles Coliseum. By that point, he sensed that a change of scenery was imminent.
“I knew the handwriting was on the wall," he said. "I was hoping they were going to trade me.”
The Dodgers almost granted his wish during the following spring training. He recounted an exchange with Bavasi that had him set to go to the Chicago White Sox until Bill Veeck pulled the plug at the final hour.
At the end of the 1959 season, Gentile finally was able to move on, via a trade to the Baltimore Orioles. This too wasn't without a hitch, which seemed to be a constant in Gentile's career until this point.
“Instead of trading me outright, they traded me on a look-see, a 30-day look," he said. "If I don't make it, I come back and they get $25,000 back. We had five guys at first base, Boog Powell an 18-year-old phenom, Walt Dropo, Bob Boyd, Johnny Powers, and me.”
Amidst all of the competition, Gentile got off to a slow start in spring training. He thought for sure that he was going back to the Dodgers.
“I had a terrible spring and the night before they were going to tell us who was going to Baltimore, Sparky Anderson called me," Gentile recalled. "He was managing Toronto. We were talking and he said, 'Jim, the Dodgers feel they're going to get a hard-hitting first baseman back in a couple of days.' I said, 'Pardon, that's me!'
"He asked if I wanted to play for him, as long as there were no tantrums or tearing up clubhouses. I told him I'd play for him, but with eight years in the minors, I'm probably going to be labeled as a career minor leaguer. I'd play one year and then I'd like to try to go to Japan. For some reason, Paul Richards then calls me into his office and says, 'Son, you can't be as bad as you look. You have 208 home runs in seven years, with that power, I really need you on first base. You only have 36 times at bat in three years with the Dodgers. I'm going to give you 150 times at bat. On the 29th day, if you are hitting, you stay with me, if not, I'm going to send you back to the Dodgers.' Once the season started, things started to click."
Gentile finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting to teammate Ron Hansen. Years removed his playing days, fans still call him “Diamond Jim,” the nickname Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella gave him. Gentile explained how the named followed him throughout his career.
“Roy Campanella gave it to me in Japan," he said. "I led the club in everything. The Stars and Stripes asked Campanella, 'How about this Italian kid?' He replied, 'He's a diamond in the rough.' I came to Spring Training next year and Charlie "The Brow" the clubhouse guy had a big sign over my locker that read, 'Welcome home Diamond Jim, Ichiban #1.' In 1961, we went to Minneapolis, and the clubhouse boy who was with me at St. Paul is now in the visitors' clubhouse. He's got a sign over my locker that read, 'Welcome home Diamond Jim.' I went out and hit grand slams in the first and second innings and the name stuck from there.”
While Gentile is enjoying the revived interest in his career and his “new” record, the former All-Star is still trying to keep his place in the history books within the proper perspective.
“I never considered myself in Mickey's status," he said. "I was just a mediocre ballplayer. I could hit the long ball, but I wasn't going to hit .350. In my nine years, I hit .260. That was pretty good for a long ball hitter. It [1961] was a great year for me, and to be in that category with those guys, it's quite a thrill. I'm very happy they found that RBI, but with the oil spills and whatnot, why are they worried about that RBI? It doesn't diminish Roger Maris' year in any way, it just gives my grandkids something to talk about.”
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| Jim Gentile / Topps |
Forty-nine years later the change has become official, much to Gentile's chagrin.
“Well, I wish it would have happened 49 years ago, but you know I guess they have these people that go back and check things," Gentile said via telephone from his home in Edmond, Oklahoma. "I was told of this 15 years ago, but nothing was ever done. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it. A sportswriter told me that he had gone back, checked, and found where the error was made, the scorekeeper sent in two instead of one. I said, 'Well that's fine, but there is nothing you can do about that now.' I guess they decided to change it. It's nice, nice for my kids and grandkids. They can look it up years from now and say that my granddad did something.”
Nineteen-sixty-one holds a special place for baseball fans, as Roger Maris made baseball history when he surpassed Babe Ruth's single-season home run record with 61 round-trippers. For Gentile, it earmarked a career year after toiling in the minor leagues.
“It seemed like just about everything clicked," he said. "It seemed like when I hit a ball, it went out of the park. Everything was going right.”
With six players hitting over 40 home runs that season, some fans speculated that the American League expansion caused his surge in power. Gentile strongly refutes that claim.
“People asked me over the years about the home runs [that season], and that it was on the account of the league being expanded with L.A., it made the pitching easier. For years, I said, 'Maybe you're right, I don't know.' Now I tell them, 'If six guys hit over 40 homers and the six are all home run hitters, now the seventh place home run hitter should be hitting in the 30s right?' Has anyone checked to see who that was? It was Bob Allison, he hit 29. I think he hit 25-30 home runs every year. If it was so easy to hit, why wasn't he in the 30s or other guys in the 30s? It just happened that those six had career years more or less. It was a career year for Maris, right. I asked a sportswriter, 'If the seventh hit 28, how come there was nobody who hit over 30 that year?'”
Gentile had a long climb to the big leagues, starting out as a pitcher and first baseman in Class C Santa Barbara after signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952. He quickly discovered that there was a tremendous difference in having success as a pitcher in professional baseball compared to facing high school lineups.
“I signed in 1952 out of high school," he said. "I got a good bonus as a pitcher. I wasn't a pitcher. I could throw hard. I didn't know anything about a curveball. In high school, you know you could throw hard and get away with it. They sent me to Santa Barbara. I didn't do well as a starter. I did better as a reliever and I still only had a three-something ERA. The next year they asked me if I wanted to come back as a first baseman or pitcher. I told them I would come back as a first baseman.”
After a few seasons of leading his clubs in home runs and RBIs, Gentile thought that management would deem him worthy of a look in Brooklyn. He recalled a spirited exchange with general manager Buzzie Bavasi that was typical of an executive attempting to shuffle a crowded minor league system.
"In 1955 they send me to Class AA Mobile," Gentile recalled. "I lead the league in RBIs, hit 28 homers and batted .290. I go to Spring Training in 1956 and they send me to Double-A again — Fort Worth! I asked Buzzie why. These are the things they tell you. He said, 'You played in the Southern League and they use a 97 ball.' And I said, 'Yeah?' And he said, 'Well that ball takes off.' So after three years, I'm a little cocky, I say, 'Look, I'm going to hit 25-35 every place I play.' Buzzie said, 'Well at Forth Worth, you won't because the wind blows in over right field, you won't hit it.' He made a deal, for every home run that I hit over 25, he would give me $100 and every point that I hit over .300 he would pay me $100. I hit .296 but I hit 40 home runs. He paid me the $1,500!”
The next season held tremendous significance for both Gentile and the New York baseball faithful. Nineteen-fifty-seven marked the last season that the Dodgers and Giants would call New York their home. For Gentile, it was the humble beginnings of a nine-year big league career.
“They brought me up in 1957," he said. "I was sitting in my locker after infield and all of a sudden, the captain Reese came up to me and said, 'Diamond, you're playing.' I said 'What!?' He said, 'Yeah Diamond, you're playing today.' We were playing the Phillies and Robin Roberts. First time up, I was safe on an error. The second time up, we were ahead by one and I hit my first home run off of him, upper deck center field in Ebbets Field. Years later in Baltimore, someone made a pencil drawing of Roberts pitching and he signed it for me and said, 'So you won't forget who you hit your first home run off of.' I have it hanging in my office.”
Gentile had another cup of coffee in 1958 with the newly minted Los Angeles Dodgers but didn't fare well in the cavernous Los Angeles Coliseum. By that point, he sensed that a change of scenery was imminent.
“I knew the handwriting was on the wall," he said. "I was hoping they were going to trade me.”
The Dodgers almost granted his wish during the following spring training. He recounted an exchange with Bavasi that had him set to go to the Chicago White Sox until Bill Veeck pulled the plug at the final hour.
“In 1959, he traded me to the White Sox," Gentile said. "He told me, 'Bill Veeck took over the White Sox, and he wanted to trade for you. When we go to Chicago, you come with us on the Brooklyn plane.' That day, I'm sitting in the lobby at Vero Beach and my bags are packed. Max Macon, the manager of St. Paul walks by and says, 'Where are you going?' I said, 'Buzzie told me to take the Dodger plane, I'm going to Chicago.' He said, 'No, I was just talking to Buzzie, and Veeck says he doesn't want to make the trade until he really has control of the club, so you are supposed to work out with us until the trade is made.' Well, no trade ever came around and I spent the whole year at St. Paul. The thing that got me was that in 1959 when I didn't get traded, the White Sox and Dodgers were in the World Series. I was sitting home thinking, I was supposed to be with one of them!”
At the end of the 1959 season, Gentile finally was able to move on, via a trade to the Baltimore Orioles. This too wasn't without a hitch, which seemed to be a constant in Gentile's career until this point.
“Instead of trading me outright, they traded me on a look-see, a 30-day look," he said. "If I don't make it, I come back and they get $25,000 back. We had five guys at first base, Boog Powell an 18-year-old phenom, Walt Dropo, Bob Boyd, Johnny Powers, and me.”
Amidst all of the competition, Gentile got off to a slow start in spring training. He thought for sure that he was going back to the Dodgers.
“I had a terrible spring and the night before they were going to tell us who was going to Baltimore, Sparky Anderson called me," Gentile recalled. "He was managing Toronto. We were talking and he said, 'Jim, the Dodgers feel they're going to get a hard-hitting first baseman back in a couple of days.' I said, 'Pardon, that's me!'
"He asked if I wanted to play for him, as long as there were no tantrums or tearing up clubhouses. I told him I'd play for him, but with eight years in the minors, I'm probably going to be labeled as a career minor leaguer. I'd play one year and then I'd like to try to go to Japan. For some reason, Paul Richards then calls me into his office and says, 'Son, you can't be as bad as you look. You have 208 home runs in seven years, with that power, I really need you on first base. You only have 36 times at bat in three years with the Dodgers. I'm going to give you 150 times at bat. On the 29th day, if you are hitting, you stay with me, if not, I'm going to send you back to the Dodgers.' Once the season started, things started to click."
Gentile finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting to teammate Ron Hansen. Years removed his playing days, fans still call him “Diamond Jim,” the nickname Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella gave him. Gentile explained how the named followed him throughout his career.
“Roy Campanella gave it to me in Japan," he said. "I led the club in everything. The Stars and Stripes asked Campanella, 'How about this Italian kid?' He replied, 'He's a diamond in the rough.' I came to Spring Training next year and Charlie "The Brow" the clubhouse guy had a big sign over my locker that read, 'Welcome home Diamond Jim, Ichiban #1.' In 1961, we went to Minneapolis, and the clubhouse boy who was with me at St. Paul is now in the visitors' clubhouse. He's got a sign over my locker that read, 'Welcome home Diamond Jim.' I went out and hit grand slams in the first and second innings and the name stuck from there.”
While Gentile is enjoying the revived interest in his career and his “new” record, the former All-Star is still trying to keep his place in the history books within the proper perspective.
“I never considered myself in Mickey's status," he said. "I was just a mediocre ballplayer. I could hit the long ball, but I wasn't going to hit .350. In my nine years, I hit .260. That was pretty good for a long ball hitter. It [1961] was a great year for me, and to be in that category with those guys, it's quite a thrill. I'm very happy they found that RBI, but with the oil spills and whatnot, why are they worried about that RBI? It doesn't diminish Roger Maris' year in any way, it just gives my grandkids something to talk about.”
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Hank Presswood is honored with Topps baseball card
Former Negro League shortstop Hank "Baby" Presswood has finally received his first official baseball card 62 years after his debut. Presswood played with the Cleveland Buckeyes and Kansas City Monarchs between 1948 and 1952. He was honored with a card in the 2010 Topps Allen and Ginter set. This honor has been part of an ongoing attempt since 2007 by Topps to recognize the living Negro League greats that did not have the opportunity to be featured during their playing careers.
In a July 2010 phone interview with Presswood, he remarked about the excitement of having his "rookie" card at the age of 88. The fan response has been overwhelming.
"I was really grateful for it," Presswood said. "It was really nice man. They even have when I played softball on that card. They had everything about my ballplaying. I get a pile of letters every day! Sometimes I can get them right in the mail, other days, it takes a day or so. I'm enjoying it. I'm proud that people are interested."
The increased popularity of the Negro Leagues has allowed Presswood to experience the adulation of the younger generation. He had just returned from giving an apperance at a local high school when we caught up on the phone.
"We get invited to these things," he said. "We were at Stevenson on the North Side today. I just got back from there. Seeing the kids is the best thing that ever happened. I feel really proud when we talk to the kids. It's really exciting. They get a big bang out of us being there. We're gone all the time, at different places and ball games."
While Presswood has outlived most of his peers, his nickname "Baby" still sticks. He explained how the legendary Buck O'Neil bestowed the youthful moniker upon him.
"I played two years with the Monarchs," he explained. "That's when I got my nickname. Buck O'Neil called me "Baby". Everyone calls me now Hank "Baby" Presswood and I'm two years younger than Santa Claus! He was the greatest. He was a good ballplayer himself. He was something else. When he passed, that really hurt because he was like a father to me."
Presswood continues to have the passion for the game of a wide eyed youngster, even after being far removed from his playing days.
"I'll tell you what, I just love the game," he said. "When the Cubs and the White Sox are playing, I don't care what I have to do, I finish what I have to do, get my seat and watch the game."
In a July 2010 phone interview with Presswood, he remarked about the excitement of having his "rookie" card at the age of 88. The fan response has been overwhelming.
"I was really grateful for it," Presswood said. "It was really nice man. They even have when I played softball on that card. They had everything about my ballplaying. I get a pile of letters every day! Sometimes I can get them right in the mail, other days, it takes a day or so. I'm enjoying it. I'm proud that people are interested."
 |
| Hank Presswood / Topps |
"We get invited to these things," he said. "We were at Stevenson on the North Side today. I just got back from there. Seeing the kids is the best thing that ever happened. I feel really proud when we talk to the kids. It's really exciting. They get a big bang out of us being there. We're gone all the time, at different places and ball games."
While Presswood has outlived most of his peers, his nickname "Baby" still sticks. He explained how the legendary Buck O'Neil bestowed the youthful moniker upon him.
"I played two years with the Monarchs," he explained. "That's when I got my nickname. Buck O'Neil called me "Baby". Everyone calls me now Hank "Baby" Presswood and I'm two years younger than Santa Claus! He was the greatest. He was a good ballplayer himself. He was something else. When he passed, that really hurt because he was like a father to me."
Presswood continues to have the passion for the game of a wide eyed youngster, even after being far removed from his playing days.
"I'll tell you what, I just love the game," he said. "When the Cubs and the White Sox are playing, I don't care what I have to do, I finish what I have to do, get my seat and watch the game."