Rain Delay?: Happy Father's Day

As we celebrate Father's Day, enjoy these pictures of my Dad. He is the reason I started the blog. Enjoy.

Love, Dad/Grandpa/Jim-James

2nd Inning: Sandlot Baseball

(The photo is from one of Matthew's early Y-League teams)

My youngest brother Mark was born in 1964 right before we moved from Riverton to Lebanon. With five boys in our family I would joke about there being enough of us to have our own basketball team. Remember though, we are a baseball family.

"Baseball game at Eidson field in fifteen minutes!" Keller field needs to be mowed and the Montgomery's aren't home. So today's game will be played at Eidson field.

All the kids who lived in our neighborhood on Keller Drive had a yard that doubled as some kind of ball field. Our yard had a basketball goal in the back and enough room in the front yard to serve as a small football field. John Wright also had a basketball goal and a long narrow yard far enough away from his house to serve as a driving range when we got our few golf clubs. The Montgomery's had a big field. However, small trees planted in strategic places made it difficult to play any kind of ball game.

Mr. Keller lived next to a vacant lot that was the biggest field in the neighborhood but it also took the most work to mow. We kept the infield playable but the outfield was too big for any of us to mow with our push mowers. Sometimes we could keep short right field manageable but left field always kept our baseballs. Even if a riding mower was ever available the field was more in need of a brush hog. Too bad, because right field bordered the V.F.W. post and had a hedge of bushes that made a perfect home run fence.

Eidson field was our favorite. It had the best conditions of all the baseball fields in our neighborhood. The yard was well mowed and the whole outfield bordered the V.F.W. bushes. Center field was the shortest distance for a home run. Houses on either side of the field were well in foul territory and only had a few small windows. To keep the ball from going into the street we constructed a portable backstop transferable between Keller and Eidson field. It also served as a "catcher" when our teams were well short of nine players.

Baseball games in the neighborhood were always announced along with the name of the field. If you missed the initial call you could always look out your front door and see where the game was being played. Kids who played in the neighborhood games at one time or another were John and Dan Wright, Mike and Gene Eidson, Charlie Halter, Glenn and Steve Montgomery, my brothers Gregg, Gary Scott, Mark and myself. There was also Leland Wright and his older sister Donna who played. She had the unfortunate luck of having the family nickname "Heifer-lou" Sometimes adults would play field positions for both teams and visiting friends were always welcome to play.

As each player arrived they called out the position they wanted to play by calling the name of the famous ball player they would be for the game. Since we were St. Louis Cardinal fans we would usually call to be a Cardinal player. So, if you wanted to play third base you would say, "I'm Ken Boyer" or in order to play first base you would call out, "I"m Orlando Cepeda!" Sometimes we would call players of some other team, but they had to be an All-Star caliber player like Pete Rose, Johnny Bench or Roberto Clemente. In addition to calling "dibs" on your position by naming a player, you gave your team an added advantage. By invoking the name of a famous player your batting average and teams chances of winning increased. It was almost like saying, "God is on our side", therefore we are assured of victory.

The player we would name changed depending on what position we wanted to play that day. Except for my brother Mark. He always wanted to play shortstop and wanted to be Julian Javier. He was one of the youngest in the neighborhood and it was all he could do to play shortstop, let alone say "Whoolian Ha-vee-air" My Dad used to get tickled when Mark would run out on to Eidson field, falling all over himself while hollering, "I'm Whoolian Ha-vee-air!"

Well the name Julian Javier stuck with my brother Mark. Dad nicknamed him "Julio" and later shortened it to "Who". He gave Mark a shirt with the name "WHO" lettered on the back. The nickname stayed with him through school and league sports. Family friends even came to call Mark, "WHO".

I wonder if anyone in Lebanon would still walk into Central Bank today and ask, "How are you WHO?" -30-

Bottom of the First: Riverton

On the east edge of Riverton was the local baseball field. The field was shared by teams and players of all ages, Little League, the Local Semi-Pro team, Club events like the J.C.'s vs A.C.'s and the Local carnival. The dimensions were those of a regular big league field. The outfield wall was about 8-10 feet high and painted green. For Little League games a temporary fence was placed in the outfield, more suitable for our age. Behind home plate were covered bleachers, bench seats, all gray boards with a screen backstop, maybe chicken wire, that occasionally allowed a foul ball to come through.
Little League games were held during the week and the Semi-pro team ruled on the weekends. I asked my Dad what semi-pro meant and his explanation was they weren't paid but they did receive some type of pay so they weren't amateur's. They also had regular jobs during the week. Home games usually drew a big crowd, for a small town. Men hung out, watched the game, drank beer. Kids would play around the area, watch a little bit, or collect pop/beer bottles and turn them in at the concession stand for a nickel. (per load, not per bottle). However, it was a summer pastime in town to find soda bottles and turn them in at the local grocery stores for 2 cents apiece. Usually it was a trade of soda bottles for candy. No, we didn't get rich.
Mainly I just remember going to the games but there are a few memories that stand out. The Riverton team had one pretty decent pitcher that reportedly some big league scouts were interested in. Rumor was the Cardinals were one of those teams. Another memory involves preparing the field for play. There had been a game on saturday and rain overnight threatened to postpone/cancel sundays game. The field was wet with puddles of mud/water around 3rd base and home. Sand was brought in to help condition the infield and kerosene was poured on those wet spots to burn them dry. A lot of effort went in to preparing the field and the game started late, but it was played.
Dad played for the J.C.'s in the JC's vs. AC's games. They were slow pitch softball and always fun to watch. Many of the men involved were friends of Dads or people you saw in the community at church, high school basketball games, grocery store, etc.
One other memory of baseball in Riverton involved collecting team pins from Kitty Clover (?) potato chips. If you collected all 20 team pins you could redeem them for a baseball. This was back in the day of two leagues, American and National, no divisions. Here goes with a list. How many do you remember? Where did they move to? Can you name the "expansion" teams from that list? Can you name the expansion teams since that time in 1962-63? Have fun.

American League:

1. New York Yankees
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Baltimore Orioles
4. Cleveland Indians
5. Kansas City Athletics
6. Los Angeles Angels
7. Minnesota Twins
8. Chicago White Sox
9. Minnesota Twins
10. Detroit Tigers

National League:

1. New York Mets
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Milwaukee Braves
4. St. Louis Cardinals
5. Cinncinati Reds
6. Houston Colt 45's
7. Los Angeles Dodgers
8. San Francisco Giants
9. Washington Senators
10. Chicago Cubs

-30-

First Inning: Riverton, Illinois

The picture shows me and my brothers Gregg, Gary and Scott in the backyard of our home in Riverton, Illinois. Riverton was a great place to grow up as a kid. Before I tell about "baseball stuff" I probably need to tell why Riverton was such a great place to live, at least from my perspective.

Riverton (current pop. 2,900) is east of Springfield about 6 miles. The town was laid out in a square shape. The major streets were the perimeter of the square. We lived on Main street. At the end of the block was the Fire station with its siren that sounded daily at 8:00 a.m, noon, 5:00 p.m and 10:00 at night as well as for any fires that needed the Volunteer Fire Department. Across the street from the fire station was the Post Office and in the next block west was a hardware store and a building that served as a community center. Two blocks to the east was the Elementary school. Within a two block radius of our house were at least 4 of the local churches and a local barber shop. We were in the middle of town. Two grocery stores were located within a half mile of our house. From our backyard we could see the railroad tracks that ran through town. The big deal was to see how many cabooses there would be at the end of the train. The baseball field was located on the east edge of town less than a mile away. Almost anyplace in town could be reached by an eight year old on a bicycle.

The town had an Italian heritage and many of the names in the community reflected that. Our neighbors, June & Adolph Pasquali, Greggs friend, Jimmy Rosetti, my 5th grade teacher (and our landlady) Mrs. Finale and the only team mate from my baseball team I can remember, Vic Pambianco.

Springfield/Riverton was in the heart of Lincoln Country and 1962-63 was part of the Centennial Era. But this area was also half-way between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. People in Springfield/Riverton had a strong leaning toward the Cardinals. During this time the Cardinals were pretty hot and involved in pennant races. Stan Musial was a big name along with Ray Sadecki, Ken Boyer and Dick Groat to name a few. A transistor radio was a pretty hot commodity late in the summer. Me, I was Dodger fan. Why? Well, they did have a good team with players like Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Jim Lefebvre, Johnny Rosboro. I would listen to the Cardinals games hoping to hear them play the Dodgers.

In Riverton I played on my first little league team, the Dodgers. My Dad was assistant coach to one of his friends, Tony. At age nine I was one of the younger members of a team loaded with lots of 12 year olds. I think the only reason I was on the team was because Dad was a coach and there were only 4 teams in the league for ages 8-12. The 12 year olds on our team were really good and we won a lot of games if not all of them. I only got to play when our team was way ahead in the late innings and many times people were telling me to strike out on purpose so we could get the game in before the town curfew of 10:00. They didn't have to tell me to strike out on purpose, I could do it on my own, thank you very much.

In the next post I'll tell more about baseball in Riverton, especially our Semi-pro team. -30-