If you played baseball or softball or just love watching the games, you will enjoy reading Kelly G. Park’s book, Just Like Me.
He has done a wonderful service to the history of baseball by collecting and sharing these interviews. We are deeply appreciative that he included the narratives of African Americans and women so that a wider swath of the public who play the game can truly read this book and think, They were just like me.
“Wait a minute, what did I just hear my Grandma say?” “Did she say Joe Pepitone was cute?” In the eight years of my life, I had never heard Grandma say anything like that … did I really hear her say Joe Pepitone was cute?
His favorite sport growing up was hockey. As a defenseman, Fergie wasn’t afraid of getting into a scrap or two. During one such game, the local baseball scout that turned Fergie into a pitcher attended his hockey game and wanted to know one thing, “why are you so violent?” and Fergie’s response, “because I’ve got to protect my goalie!”
Katie’s road to the AAGPBL started with a handsome priest from Kentucky and ended with an insurance agent moonlighting as a scout for the AAGPBL.
Jim knew he wanted to be a baseball player by the time he was seven-years-old, and he made sure everyone in his family knew that was his dream, but what he heard back was, “Too bad that he’s so small.” Fortunately, Jim had the desire to learn and compete. So, how did he learn to play the game of baseball, by going out and playing, it didn’t matter if there were only two of his friends around or enough for an actual game, they were out there playing and having fun.
Hawk’s story of the night he signed with the Braves reads like a Mickey Spillane novel with teams demanding him to come to their city and tryout, to teams camping out in motel rooms waiting on a phone call to continue the negotiations. Hawk has fantastic stories about sneaking into a major league team locker room, how he got his first set of catchers equipment, and something that no one denies … his confidence.
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