About Me: As a Fan

I have been an avid fan of baseball from the age of about 7 years old. The first professional baseball game I attended was a New York Giants game in the early 1950s at the Polo Grounds in the Bronx, NY. My brother and I were part of a group of neighborhood kids that were taken to the game by Clifford Shea who lived 3 houses from us.

In the early 1950s, I was a dedicated Brooklyn Dodgers fan and my favorite baseball player was their center fielder, Duke Snider (1947-1962). During these early years, we had no television and I would listen to their games on radio.

On September 17, 1955 my father took my brother and I to Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn to see the Dodgers play the New York Giants. I still have the original Official Program and Score Card (cost 10 cents) for this game in which I kept the inning by inning score. During this game we saw two of the famous New York center fielders of the day play—Willie Mays of the Giants and Duke Snider of the Dodgers. Carl Furillo, right fielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers, hit a 2-run homer in the 3rd inning. Bobby Hofman hit a 2 run home run for the Giants in the top of the 1st and Mays hit a solo home run in the 5th inning. The final scores was Giants 8 and the Dodgers 5 (Box Score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO195509170.shtml)

The next season, 1956, we went to Ebbetts Field on August 15th and Yankee Stadium on September 8th. For both games I scored the game using the Official Program and Score Card, which now cost 15 cents. Again the Dodgers played the Giants and according to the score card we saw Willie Mays hit another homer. The final score was Gaints 1 and the Dodgers 0 (Box Score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO195608150.shtml). The Yankee game was versus the Washington Senators and on that day we got to see the third famous center fielder of the New York area—Mickey Mantle—play the outfield. In this game, Roy Seavers of the Senators homered, but the Yankees still won by a score 0f 16 t0 2 (Box Score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA195609080.shtml).

When the Dodgers left Brooklyn for the west coast at the end of the 1957 season, they remained my favorite team for a number of years. However, soon after the New York Mets joined the National League in 1962, I began to follow them and eventually they became my new team.

This transition was partly influenced by the fact that in their first few seasons the Mets added many of my favorite Dodger players from the 1950s to their team so that they may finish their careers in New York. The list included, but was not limited to Charlie Neal (2B), Gil Hodges (1B), Clem Labine (P), Roger Craig (P), and even “The Duke” in 1963. During my years as a Met fan, my favorite player was their left fielder, Cleon Jones (1965-1975).

During the late 1980s my team allegiance changed one more time. Starting then and continuing through today, I remain a New York Yankees fan. My inspiration for evolving into a Yankee fan was driven by my fascination with Manager Bill Martin’s commitment to “the team.” During the early days, Don Mattingly was my favorite Yankee player and today it is Derek Jeter. Each of my Yankee favorites identify with the image of a “team player.”