General Ray
New member
most of my life, I played stick ball when I was a kid on the streets of Brooklyn New York, played little league, senior league and pony league shortly after that in California where I grew up when Dad decided to move to the west coast to look for a better life.
Not sure Dad found that better life but baseball followed me from my birth place to the west coast, I can still remember in my younger years taking my Dads empty coors beer cans and poking holes in them then tieing a rope through the can and unto the chain link fence in the back yard so I had a target to throw at, one beer can at a time. I would throw a baseball at these cans for hours to sharpen my throwing arm, I didn't have very many baseballs so I also spent alot of time walking to the fence to pick up my two or three baseballs so I tried hard to hit those dang cans.
I got pretty good at hitting those beer cans after time, I have 5 brothers and one sister, two are gone now, but none were interested in baseball and would play catch with me but dear ole Dad would when he could and that great bond was bonded between father and son, you see, there is always that bond between father and son but pop and I shared a special bond, baseball, pop was a Brooklyn, LA Dodger fan and so was little General Ray
Dad did what he could as far as allowing me to play baseball but he had to many bellies to feed, we were pretty poor so I had to work mowing lawns at a dollar a lawn with a push mower or what ever I could do to buy a ball glove, dad would always kick in a few bucks if I came up short but told me do not tell your mother
I yern for the days when Dad and I would be glued to the black and white T.V. watching the bums, the Dodgers, I remember every year and every day watching baseball with dad, my dad was and is my hero and gave me something that I will never forget, self worth!!!!!!!!!
I remember playing in a pony league game once and dad and mom showed up, the park was packed, big game, the playoffs were on the line and there I was, tie game in the bottom of the 7th inning with the bases loaded, two outs and I come to the plate. The fella on the mound was a hard throwing south paw and he was good, as I started to settle in at the plate I heard my fathers voice, I step back and looked behind me, the ump called time out, it was dad in the stands behind home plate with Ma
Come on Ray, wait for a good one, WOW, what a trill, dad told me the day before that he wouldn't be able to make the game but there he was plus he had ma with him
I know this is hard to believe but it happen, the south paw pitcher ran the count up on me at two strikes and two balls, but I kept fouling them off and he could not get a fastball by me. I kept swinging at anything near the strike zone and got a piece of the ball everytime, then it happen, I caught a high fastball that I swear was by me but caught enough of it to foul it into the parking lot, sure enough it landed on my dads 58 cheve windshield. That ball crushed dads windshield, I looked back at where dad and ma were and all dad said was you better hit a home run, well I didn't hit a home run but did line the next pitch off of the left field wall and cleared the bases, I ended up on second base and looked to where dad was and he gave me the thumbs up, we won the game!
Don't ya love baseball, it is America, I love the classic shots of baseball and would like to share with you some of Americas past when we were so simple, I wish we could go back to these days but they tell me we can't, here are some classic baseball shots that take me back to my youth and dreams, these folks could play the game of baseball.
Probably the greatess hitter that ever played the game of baseball, Ted Williams!
Williams entered the last day of the 1941 season with a .3995 average -- a mark that would have been rounded up to .400 if he had sat out the final game. Instead, Williams went 6-for-8 to increase his average to .406, the last time a hitter eclipsed the .400 mark for a season.
<CENTER><BR><img ALT="image" align="middle" src="http://www.picvault.info/images/536983293_williams.jpg"></CENTER>
Joe Dimaggio!
In the summer of 1941 the Yankees center fielder hit safely in 56 consecutive games, a mark that no one has ever come close to breaking or do I believe ever will, Joe was a great hitter.
<CENTER><BR><img ALT="image" align="middle" src="http://www.picvault.info/images/536983282_joe.jpg"></CENTER>
Honus Wagner
One of the Hall of Fame's five original inductees in 1936, Honus Wagner combined rare offensive and defensive excellence throughout a 21-year career. Despite his awkward appearance
Not sure Dad found that better life but baseball followed me from my birth place to the west coast, I can still remember in my younger years taking my Dads empty coors beer cans and poking holes in them then tieing a rope through the can and unto the chain link fence in the back yard so I had a target to throw at, one beer can at a time. I would throw a baseball at these cans for hours to sharpen my throwing arm, I didn't have very many baseballs so I also spent alot of time walking to the fence to pick up my two or three baseballs so I tried hard to hit those dang cans.
I got pretty good at hitting those beer cans after time, I have 5 brothers and one sister, two are gone now, but none were interested in baseball and would play catch with me but dear ole Dad would when he could and that great bond was bonded between father and son, you see, there is always that bond between father and son but pop and I shared a special bond, baseball, pop was a Brooklyn, LA Dodger fan and so was little General Ray
Dad did what he could as far as allowing me to play baseball but he had to many bellies to feed, we were pretty poor so I had to work mowing lawns at a dollar a lawn with a push mower or what ever I could do to buy a ball glove, dad would always kick in a few bucks if I came up short but told me do not tell your mother
I yern for the days when Dad and I would be glued to the black and white T.V. watching the bums, the Dodgers, I remember every year and every day watching baseball with dad, my dad was and is my hero and gave me something that I will never forget, self worth!!!!!!!!!
I remember playing in a pony league game once and dad and mom showed up, the park was packed, big game, the playoffs were on the line and there I was, tie game in the bottom of the 7th inning with the bases loaded, two outs and I come to the plate. The fella on the mound was a hard throwing south paw and he was good, as I started to settle in at the plate I heard my fathers voice, I step back and looked behind me, the ump called time out, it was dad in the stands behind home plate with Ma
Come on Ray, wait for a good one, WOW, what a trill, dad told me the day before that he wouldn't be able to make the game but there he was plus he had ma with him
I know this is hard to believe but it happen, the south paw pitcher ran the count up on me at two strikes and two balls, but I kept fouling them off and he could not get a fastball by me. I kept swinging at anything near the strike zone and got a piece of the ball everytime, then it happen, I caught a high fastball that I swear was by me but caught enough of it to foul it into the parking lot, sure enough it landed on my dads 58 cheve windshield. That ball crushed dads windshield, I looked back at where dad and ma were and all dad said was you better hit a home run, well I didn't hit a home run but did line the next pitch off of the left field wall and cleared the bases, I ended up on second base and looked to where dad was and he gave me the thumbs up, we won the game!
Don't ya love baseball, it is America, I love the classic shots of baseball and would like to share with you some of Americas past when we were so simple, I wish we could go back to these days but they tell me we can't, here are some classic baseball shots that take me back to my youth and dreams, these folks could play the game of baseball.
Probably the greatess hitter that ever played the game of baseball, Ted Williams!
Williams entered the last day of the 1941 season with a .3995 average -- a mark that would have been rounded up to .400 if he had sat out the final game. Instead, Williams went 6-for-8 to increase his average to .406, the last time a hitter eclipsed the .400 mark for a season.
<CENTER><BR><img ALT="image" align="middle" src="http://www.picvault.info/images/536983293_williams.jpg"></CENTER>
Joe Dimaggio!
In the summer of 1941 the Yankees center fielder hit safely in 56 consecutive games, a mark that no one has ever come close to breaking or do I believe ever will, Joe was a great hitter.
<CENTER><BR><img ALT="image" align="middle" src="http://www.picvault.info/images/536983282_joe.jpg"></CENTER>
Honus Wagner
One of the Hall of Fame's five original inductees in 1936, Honus Wagner combined rare offensive and defensive excellence throughout a 21-year career. Despite his awkward appearance
