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Nancy Harding
Joined: 05/05/20 Posts: 2 View Profile |
Those Brooklyn Bums by Nancy Harding Posted Thursday, May 7, 2020 05:43 PM On first recollection, my love of the Dodgers provided revolving seasons of fun.
It occurs to me though, that it may also have been the first symptom of
an obsessive/compulsive personality, the undoing of my early religious training,
and the cause of my first round of PTSD.
Though I don’t remember selecting the Dodgers, I must have followed the lead
of my dad, who had a big heart and was prone to root for the underdog
regardless of the sport. By the time I was old enough to realize that life was
easier and less agonizing as a Yankee fan, the die was cast.
I rarely missed a game, running home from Center School to watch afternoon
games on TV and listening on the radio to games that went on past my bedtime.
My dad and I watched many a Sunday double header together.
Duke Snyder was my hero. He played center field of course in the years that
Gil Hodges was at first, the great Jackie Robinson at second and Peewee Reese
in the hole. Roy Campanella caught for the pitchers Don Newcomb, Sandy Koufax,
Johnny Podres, Carl Erskine and Clem LaBine.
My spirits rose and fell with the Duke’s batting average. I came to his aid regularly
with with Our Fathers and Hail Marys and recall all too clearly
the stress of those bottom-of-the-ninth, two out, and bases loaded at bats.
That’s when I discovered that all prayers are not necessarily answered in the
current baseball season.
I checked the daily standings chart in the Herald Tribune that my dad brought
home from the city. There were two leagues of eight teams each; the Dodgers
were often near the top of the standings and sometimes in first place.
Having successfully launched my love affair with baseball, my dad abandoned
me for several years when he was posted to Newfoundland, leaving me to suffer
the joys and agonies of Dodger fandom alone. It was a heavy burden. Most of my
Center School friends were Yankee fans - a constant source of mystery and aggravation.
I mean, how could anyone like the Yankees? They were the enemy!
I got used to, if never inured to, the trauma of the Yankees beating the Dodgers
in the World Series. Why I did not develop one eating disorder
or another during those stressful series weeks is beyond me, parked as I was
in front of the TV or radio for hours on end, snacking non-stop and unwilling
to pee except during the seventh inning stretch.
The year the Giants beat the Dodgers in the World Series was particularly
humiliating. I had not thought the Giants were that big of a threat and I had
to listen to my classmate and friend Bob Saggese -the sole Giants fan in the class -
gloat all that day in Mr. Merrill’s fifth grade and then again during
Catechism Class.
Occasionally of course, the Dodgers actually won the World Series and I
was delirious. The taste of victory was as sweet as it was rare.
One year, after my dad returned from Newfoundland, the unthinkable happened.
My dad, who had an aversion to crowds and traffic, got his friend Eddie Burke at the
Herald Tribune to get us a couple of series tickets. I was out of my mind at this news.
Hysterical I believe is the word. People in my family didn’t do things like this.
It was more than I had ever hoped for.
The game itself turned out to be a dud. We sat behind a column and could
barely see the moving dots on the field. The fellow behind us smoked a cigar
with acrid smoke wafting our way. The Dodgers lost. But the thrill of hearing that I was
going to a World Series game has never dimmed. And not incidentally, those tickets were
accompanied by a baseball signed by the Dodger team. It remains my most prized possession.
The end of the story is history. In 1958 the Dodgers or Brooklyn Bums as they were
affectionately known, abandoned me and all those other underdog stalwarts
who loved them so passionately. They left the bars of Brooklyn for the swanky
west coast. It stank. I mourned them for a long time and I guess I still do.
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Mary Dixon
Joined: 03/31/20 Posts: 5 View Profile |
RE: Those Brooklyn Bums by Nancy Harding Posted Saturday, May 9, 2020 02:10 PM Great story Nancy. My dad and family were not really baseball fans but when Ed got older he became a Mets fan. I have vague memories of one Yankees game. However, that all changed for me in college when I was a mile from Fenway Park. I went to lots of games and love the Red Sox's. Moving to California, I switched my allegiance to SF Giants. I even had season tickets with friends. We sold them just before the Giants started winning World Series because we couldn't even give away tickets before then and we had great tickets. Now I watch on TV and go to 2 or 3 games a season.So missing baseball this year. Thanks for the memories! |
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