There are not too many people walking the planet with more
baseball knowledge than my grandfather
– who has 70 years of stick-ball stories that he’s always
willing to share.
There are not too many people walking the planet with more baseball knowledge than my grandfather – who has 70 years of stick-ball stories that he’s always willing to share.
So when my grandparents – who are retired living in Florida – visited my uncle, aunt, and three cousins in Davis, Sacramento, I made two trips up to see my immediate family and enjoy the holiday with them.
My grandpa took me to my first New York Yankees’ game – even though the Bronx Bombers were the arch-enemies of his childhood team.
Sidney Velinsky grew up in Brownstone, Brooklyn – and still is to this day a Brooklyn Dodgers’ fan. His favorite player to speak of is Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax. My grandpa saw Koufax pitch in his rookie season at the old Ebbets Field – which opened in April 9, 1913 and was demolished three years after the last game was played there on September 24, 1957.
He watched players like Babe Ruth, Duke Snider, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson. I wish I could take a time machine back and watch those games with him.
But it’s not only the famous players through baseball’s long, storied history who are still known today that make for the best stories, it’s also the not-so-well-known ballplayers he talks about. And it’s the way he tells the stories that make them so special. There’s nothing like it.
He was there in a time when ballplayers played for the love of the game and not the all-mighty dollar. Players who were true to the game and not just looking out for themselves.
My grandpa is a baseball purest. He doesn’t like the designated hitter and he thinks there are too many teams – diluting the talent pool.
It is not too often these days that I get to chat with my grandpa and my Uncle Steven – another big baseball historian – at the same time. But we will always have baseball to spark some commentary.
When I ask at the start of each season, “hey grandpa, who’s your team this year?” – his answer is always the same, “the Florida Marlins,” he’ll say.
That’s his team now because he lives down south and believe me he knows all about the Marlins. He likes all the young arms they have this year in their starting rotation.
He knows I’m gung-ho Yankees – and he always gives them their due. But not without a hint of sarcasm about their payroll and owner George Steinbrenner. That usually leads to a story about how little baseball players’ salaries were in his day – and then the mention of Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez’s ridiculous contract.
We discuss whether Pete Rose should ever get into the Hall of Fame. We talk about the All-Star Game and how it used to mean so much to the players of the past. We cover the entire spectrum as far as baseball goes.
Sure, my grandpa also likes to talk about other things – like boxing. He’s got interesting stories about old-time boxers, too. This time, I responded with stories of Gilroy’s two local fighters, Kelsey Jeffries and Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero, who I’ve seen live in action. He soaks it all up – just like I do when he talks.
He’ll ask me how I’m doing, how work is going, and what’s new in my life. But somehow we always get back to baseball.
My grandpa, my uncle and I all have a shared passion for baseball. We all grew up at different times in different towns – but we all fell in love with America’s National Past-time.
I can only hope to become an inclining of the proud man my grandpa is today. I can only hope to live a full life like him. I can only hope there are hundreds of more baseball stories he’s yet to tell me. I can only hope that everyone has someone in their life like my grandpa.
Scott Forstner, a native New Yorker, is The Dispatch Sports Editor. To respond to his column, e-mail him at sp****@gi************.com.
