Over the years there were a few occasions when I went too far into Left Field and columns were rejected. Only once did I have a column rewritten. And therein lies a story. The column was non-descript. I can't even remmber the subject. The significant part of it was that I constructed the column so that the first word of every paragraph spelled out a message. This was at a time when somebody in Philadelphia had been fired for putting togetehr a pornographic message from the first words of each paragraph. I would not do that. My message was of a slightly nutty nature. The column took some time to construct. It must not have read well, because the copy editor had trouble understanding it. He had George Vecsey, on rewrite duty that night, rewrite the column. My construct of first words of paragraphs faded away. That ended my juvenile attempt to sneak a coded message into the column. After awhile, it was accepted that if I wanted to make a fool of myself or indulge myself, I could willy-nilly go ahead. Some far-out columns that must have confused a few readers, but perhaps delighted a few others, saw the light of the printed page. Such an effort was the catch-as-catch-can game of free association. I'll explain a little of it. I started with Left Field, the name of the column, and free-associated from it. I went from Left Field to Mets left fielder Cleon Jones from Alabama which led to Alabama governor George Wallace and Alabama U. coach Bar Bryant who coached Joe Namath. And so on. As I look at it now there are instances in which I can't recall how I made certain associations. I went from Hofstra football coach Howdy Meyers to Howdy Doody which, I guess, sounds like Eddie Dooley, a boxing commissioner, which led to the WBA boxing organization, to the NBA of pro basketball and its commissioner Walter Kennedy, leading to referee Pat Kennedy, to NBA official Mendy Rudolph, whose actions on the court had a dancer's grace, leading to ballet dancer Jacques D'Amboise, his sometime partner Melissa Hayden and then to the puzzlement of Mildred Herman. Why Mildred Herman? I got all the way back to Left Field from an association with JoJo Moore, the New York Giants left fielder of my youth. Many years later at a conference at Hofstra celebrating the 100th birthday of Babe Ruth, JoJo Moore was on a panel of oldtime players who had played with or against Ruth. I never was awed by athletes I covered in my time, but I had a special feeling for the ones who had been part of my youth. I was delighted when Moore told the audience that one of two big mistakes the Giants had made was moving to San Francisco. Moore played with the Giants from 1930 to 1941 (when I was12). He was from the hamlet of Gause, Texas, and never left there. His feeling for New York warmed me. Many years earlier, I had met my old hero, Mel Ott, when he broadcast for the Detroit Tigers. This was when the Giants were leaving New York for San Francvisco. We were in the press room at Yankee Stadium. I asked Ott if it bothered him, as it did me and so many Giants fans, that the Giants were leaving New York, the town in which he played and managed in for 23 years. His answer devasted me. He said the team was losing money in New York, so it probably had to move. Moore, in my mind, made up for Ott. December 4: It's a Non-Stop Trip Around All the Bases Today we play a game of sports free association, catch-as-catch-can.
Left Field, Cleon Jones, Alabama, George Wallace, Bear Bryant, Joe Namath, O.J. Simpson, Jim Brown, Big Daddy, Goliath, David, The Discobolus, AlOerter, AAU, NCAA, Hard Knocks, Fort Knox, Yogi Berra, Sandy Amoros, Al Gionfriddo, Ron Swoboda, Casey Stengel, John McGraw, Mel Ott, Carl Hubbell, Red Ruffing, Reggie the Ruffian, Greenie the Meanie, Rafael Sabatini, Captain Blood, Johnny Blood, Cliff Battles, Mike Battle. Joe E. Brown, Jack Oakie, Ronald Reagan, George Gipp, Knute Rockner, Rocky Marciano, Rocky Graziano, TKO, TV, TB, Tom Stith, Wilt the Stilt, "Small's Paradise", Verlon Biggs, Tiny Tim, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Eddie Giacomin, Emile Francis, Boom Boom Geoffrion, Boom Boom Beck, Baker Field, Baker Bowl, Larry Ritter, Lee Lowenfish, Columbia, Lou Little, Jack Kerouac, Marty Glickman, Syracuse, Ben Schwartzwalder, Ernie Davis, Art Modell, Cleveland, Paul Brown, Cincinnati, Johnny Vander Meer, Ebbets Field,
Larry MacPhail, Red Barber, Vin Scully, Los Angeles, U.S.C., Stanford, Sweetheart of Sigma Chi, Elyse Knox, Tom Harmon, Forest Evashevski, Iowa Seahawks, Great Lakes, Navy, Army, Doc Blanchard, Glenn Davis, Al Davis, Oakland, Reggie Jackson, Roger Maris, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Maury Wills, Mudcat Grant, Ted Wilks, Star Spangled Banner, Robert Goulet, Lewiston, Me., Len Shecter, Larry Merchant, Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali, Big Time Buck White, Whizzer White, Richard Nixon, Whittier, Longfellow, Paul Revere, Eddie Arcaro, Citation, Dr. Fager, Dr. Gaynor, Yankees, Mike Burke, Penn, Franklin Field, Philadelphia, Richie Allen, Bill Hartack, Hialeah, Miami, Super Bowl, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Sirhan Sirhan, Salvatore Sollazzo, Eddie Gard, Sherman Whte, LIU, CCNY, NIT, Ned Irish, Tim Mara, Art Rooney, Pittsburgh, Marshall Goldberg, George Marshall, Washington Redskins, 73-0, Chicago Bears, Sid Luckman, Bulldog Turner, Sammy Baugh, Glenn Dobbs, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Mrs. Robinson, Simon & Garfunkel, Dutch Garfunkel, St. John's, Joe Lapchick, Lew Carnesecca, New York Nets, Jets, Mets, Shea Stadium, Bill Shea, Branch Rickey, Jackie Robinson, Buddy Young, Em Tunnell, Polo Grounds, Bobby Thomson, Leo Durocher, Eddie Stanky, Alvin Dark, Orlando Cepeda, Atlanta, Richie Guerin, Iona, Jimmy McDermott, Ken Norton, Manhattan, NYU, Irv Mondschein, Bob Mathias, Bob Richards, Billy Graham, Kid Gavilan, Fidel Castro, Che Guevera, Mark Rudd, Jim McMillian, Jack Rohan, Frank Navarro, Williams College, Amherst, Jim Ostendarp, New York Football Giants, Charley Conerly, Sam Huff, Vince Lombardi, Adolpha Hitler, Eva Braun, Carl Braun, Vince Boryla, Denver, Mark Freeman, LSU, Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan, Clif Keane, Red Auerbach, Eastern District High School, Lou Goldstein, Grossingers, The Concord, Emile Griffith, Gil Clancy, John Condon, The Supremes, Motown, Al Kaline, Hank Aguirre, Ron Santo, Chicago, Nelson Algren, Simone De Beauvoir, Jean Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, George Sauer, Darrell Royal, Texas, Lyndon B. Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Sprio Agnew, Johnny Unitas, Earl Morrall, Allie Sherman, Brooklyn College, Lou Oshins, Ted Roseqist, Ohio State, Woody Hayes, Columbus, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Latrobe, Pa. , Donora, Pa., Stan Musial, Ted Williams, Korea, Syngman Rhee, General Ky, General MacArthur, West Point, Red Blaik, Dartmouth, Red Rolfe,
Red Schoendienst, Joe Gordon, Bobby Doerr, Bobby Orr, Boston Garden, Madison Square Garden, Marvin Gardens, Atlantic City, Boardwalk Bowl, King Point, Hofstra, Howdy Meyers, Howdy Doody, Eddie Dooley, WBA, NBA, Walter Kennedy, Pat Kennedy, Mendy Rudolph, Jacques D'Amboise, Melissa Hayden, Mildred Herman, Dave Herman, Billy Herman, Billy Jurges, Augie Galan, Luis Olmo, Vic Power, DanTopping, Jake Ruppert, Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, Monty Stratton, Ted Lyons, Jimmie Dykes, Connie Mack, Abner Doubleday, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Y.A. Tittle, Frank Gifford, Fred Exley, Mike McGrady, Penelope Ash, Arthur Ashe, Pancho Gonzalez, Forest Hills, Wimbledon, England, Winston Churchill, Ch. Kippax Fearnought, Rin Tin Tin, Helen Twelvetrees, Helen Jacobs, Mike Jacobs, Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, Shakespeare, Falstaff, Warren Giles, Walter O'Malley, Andrew Carnegie, Carnegie Tech, Fordham, Alex Wojciechowicz, Mel Hein, Tuffy Leemans, Ace Parker, Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor, "From Here to Eternity," Frank Sinatra, Tony Galento, Max Baer, Primo Carnera, Anthony Quinn, Zorba the Greek, Eric the Red, Red Holzman, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, The Game, The Tie, Carmen Cozza, Chris Canizzaro, Choo Choo Coleman, Marv Throneberry, Richie Ashburn, Wee Willie Keeler, Eddie Gaedel, St. Louis Browns, Bill Veeck, Suffofk Downs, Boston, Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, San Francisco, Willie Mays, Horace Stoneham, Charles Stoneham, New York Baseball Giants, Bill Terry, Harry Danning, JoJo Moore, Left Field. There are 359 entities named in this column. Count them.
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Every time I sign a ball, and there have been thousands, I thank my luck that I wasn't born Covaleski, Wambsganss or Peckinpaugh. |
The Games Children Play Never Change 
