Blog

It’s game night; I’m in line to meet Boog, I’ve got my elevator pitch prepped, and I’m ready to go. By this time, Mrs. Kelly had headed for the hills, too afraid to watch me elevator pitch Boog (by the way, if I haven’t mentioned this already, yes, we have the same first name, and yes it’s spelled the same too). I’m up next, and as I approach, Boog’s looking for me to hand him something to sign or for someone behind me to take a picture when … I gave him the elevator pitch of the year, the Ralphie Red Ryder full proof pitch, and what happened next would go down in the annuals of Just Like Me.

Nicknames play a big part in the youth culture, and when a nickname sticks, it’s yours forever. Now, the nickname Whitey didn’t come about when he was a kid; even though he was a toe-head, it was Relly … he was tagged with the nickname Whitey while playing in the minor leagues. Of the other players I’ve interviewed, such as Boog Powell and Hawk Taylor, they’ve had colorful nicknames and a funny or entertaining story of its origin. With Whitey, the entertaining story isn’t how he got his nickname; it’s how he ended up with his God-given name of Dorrel Norman Elvert Herzog.

The kids organized the town team Lois played on; they didn’t have coaches or a formal league, they just scheduled their games with other town teams, and instead of asking a parent to drive them to the game, they would walk to whichever field the teams had agreed to play on. Lois credits those games and the players having the responsibility of organizing games as very important in her development as a baseball player.

The short time I was able to spend with Rev. Greason left me wanting to ask more questions and hear more of his stories, but the purpose of my visit was over, and I needed to be on my way. I realize the short time I spent with Rev. Greason was probably with one of many people he meets every day, but I will always appreciate his time and his willingness to tell me stories: funny, interesting and insightful stories, along with stories that are difficult to hear but none the less should be told.

Mr. Hickman had some great stories I know you’ll enjoy reading. If you know someone who is thinking about starting to chew tobacco, you must tell them what happened to Mr. Hickman when he decided to chew tobacco in a game for the first … and last time. For the older fans, you probably remember the 1970 All-star game when Pete Rose collided with Ray Fosse to score the winning run … Well, it was Mr. Hickman that got the game-winning hit that scored Rose. You will not believe the day he had before the game; he was just lucky to be there.