Pitchers and catchers. Those words raise the temperature 20 degrees.
I hear the smack of baseballs into many leather gloves. Smack-smack-smack. Like popcorn popping or bluefish jumping in the bay. A good sound. A communal sound. Nowadays spring camps feel like medium-security prisons, but maybe you can catch the sound, through the barricades Ball players limbering up. Bringing life back to us. I’m not the only one. Out in California, Bill Wakefield heard the same smack, in his head, and instantly remembered 1964, the year he made the Mets, pitched very well, too. One year on a baseball card, and a zillion memories of the funky little camp in quaint St. Petersburg, still there, long renamed Huggins-Stengel Field. Very much the same. Wakefield dashed off his stream-of-consciousness. # # # By Bill Wakefield: Huggins-Stengel. History Channel. On Google Earth. Crescent Lake still looks the same as when the Babe hit 'em into the lake in right field. The water tower stills looms over the batting cage at home plate. Herb Norman's soup is hot for the break after morning workout. The lawn still looks the same as when Dick Young would type down the right field line working on his Florida sun tan. The trees down the left field line are still there where Hot Rod would take a snooze in the shade before Casey said OK guys take a lap around the field. Catching a ride to the Colonial Inn with Lou Niss. Nervous, smoking, and "The damn bus had better be on time or Casey gets upset." Larry Bearnarth telling me "You know it is a privilege to be here . Make sure you tell Lou Niss thanks for the nice dinner last night….A lot of guys just complain." The porch where Barney Kremenko would adjust his hearing aid and ask, “What did he say?” Eddie Stanky coming up to me: "Bill, Pepper Martin died last night in Tulsa." Jesse Owens. All class and pride. "Good morning, gentlemen," addressing zero world class runners in black Wilson baseball cleats -- at the first base line. It was a privilege to rub shoulders with the great man. I remember it all clearly. The fans on top of the field right-field line - and players -- no security. It was a different time. "Hey Casey, how are you doing today?" The old clubhouse is still there. "Bill. Casey wants to see you in his office." Wooooops!!! Shuffle off to Buffalo. # # # Let me annotate Wakefield’s memories: Herb Norman was the salty old clubhouse man. . Dick Young, the great baseball writer, would peel off his shirt and pound away at his large portable typewriter. Hot Rod Kanehl was willing himself into his third major-league season. He adopted the Stanford kid in 1964. Lou Niss was the road secretary, shuffled as if wearing slippers. Casey did a wicked imitation of The Niss Walk. Larry Bearnarth, from St. John’s, hung out with Wakefield. I don’t think Barney Kremenko of the Journal-American had a hearing aid. He just had trouble following Casey’s syntax. Eddie Stanky, intense old second baseman, joined Mets front office, spring of 1965. Jesse Owens, Olympic champion, gave running and life lessons in spring training. Fans sat 10 feet behind Casey at Huggins-Stengel Field. Looie Kleppel, denizen of the Polo Grounds, kept up a rasping, knowing narrative. Spring of 1965. After a fine rookie season, Wakefield was sent down. Noticed kids named Seaver, Ryan, Koosman, Gentry and McGraw in the pipeline. Went into business..Now roots for Stanford, his alma mater. Loves to hear the smack of the ball in the glove.
Hansen Alexander
2/19/2016 12:58:42 pm
George, you made my day, a life lifting sequence of baseball personalities, and writing ones, in Florida in February. Just what we needed in this endless month of winter. Just hearing about the sun makes it seem warmer here in Manhattan.
George Vecsey
2/19/2016 02:35:37 pm
Hansen, thanks, but the spark was the unprompted note from Bill Wakefield. I was thinking about pitchers and catchers. He was doing something about it.,
George Vecsey
2/19/2016 03:13:32 pm
I should add that Ned Reynolds is on Jock 98.7 ESPN radio Springfield, Missouri. Part of Meyer Communications. He was telling me that Rod Kanehl is also a legend for track and field exploits at Drury College. 2/22/2016 03:18:03 pm
Bill Wakefield and I played together in Tulsa. Still get the itch every spring, although haven't thrown a ball in 40 years. Wake was a great teammate... and pitcher.
DB Ashton
2/19/2016 05:03:34 pm
Wakefield vs Ray Sadecki in high school was jaw-dropping and sublime. At 19, Bill threw two no-hitters over eight days in Kansas City's elite Ban Johnson League for Katz Drugs. Wakefield was a better-than-serviceable football halfback and punter and a terrific basketball guard on a top Missouri team.
chris stack
2/19/2016 05:40:25 pm
Hey, of course the Stanford grad can write!. He signed during freshman year and I never saw him pitch, but saw him in summer '64 in San Diego….great stuff, Wake.
Michael Green
2/19/2016 06:18:38 pm
Wonderful reminiscence and explanation. I think of the stories Lindsey Nelson told about the early Mets and how he, Ralph Kiner, and Bob Murphy decided in spring training that they needed to get to know Stengel, so they would spend evenings with him. Casey had at least two hollow legs, and within a week, they were all hiding from him!
George Vecsey
2/19/2016 07:01:10 pm
Count me in on that one. As a very young reporter, being on the road at times with Casey, 62-65, was wonderful, but not when I would go into the hotel coffee shop in the morning and see the tough old bird looking like a million, chattering away with everybody.
Randy Leathers
2/19/2016 08:57:07 pm
Don Ashton's comments about Bill are right on....!!!! Wake was an idol of mine and others growing up in KC and attending Pembroke Country Day. I was five years behind Bill and fortunately now we are neighbors and good friends in NorCal even though our respective teams Stanford and Arizona spar regularly. Bill and I lunch often and share many stories. One was him playing his boyhood idol growing up Tom Gola and me playing mine Bill Wakefield. George thanks to you and Bill for this wonderful walk down memory lane....!!!!
Brian Savin
2/20/2016 11:59:47 am
Beautiful.
Ed Presnell
2/20/2016 04:03:11 pm
Mr. Vecsey, I am 10 years to the month younger than you, but grew up in the greatest years of baseball. I study baseball history as a hobby and read (as much as possible) baseball books. For Christmas, my wife gave me a copy of "Joy in Mudville" and I am overwhelmed by the fact it reads today as if it was freshly published. The cover is a little tattered, but it will reside in my baseball library. I also have your book about Stan Musial. My question for you, sir, is would you autograph these books if I sent them with return mail pre-paid? Do you charge? And, if the answer is yes, where should I ship my books?
George Vecsey
2/20/2016 05:44:21 pm
Thanks so much. I definitely do not charge for signing. Please contact me at [email protected] for details.
Elliott Kolker
3/10/2016 05:22:22 am
juno
2/20/2017 01:35:34 am
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