“I’d always play stickball in the streets, but my mother took...

“I’d always play stickball in the streets, but my mother took me to see my first real baseball game in 1952.  It was the Brooklyn Dodgers: Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider.  I’d seen them all on television, but it was a strange feeling actually being there.  The ballpark was a bigger than I thought.  The crowd was louder than I thought.  I was hooked.  I’ve been to over one hundred games since then.  I’ve been to Cooperstown five different times.  I don’t get to the ballpark much anymore, but I listen to every Yankee game on the radio.  I like to listen outside.  I’ll pick a different spot each time.  Sometimes I sit down by the river.  Once I went to Coney Island.  I pick my bench based on where the wind is blowing.  Occasionally people from church will walk by.  All my family has gone or moved away.  It does get lonely sometimes, mainly when I’m inside.  But never when I’m listening to the ballgame.”