Happy Father’s Day, Dad
Posted: June 15, 2008 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Dad, Father's Day, Florida, Giants, Mon, Tampa Bay, Tiger Woods, US Open, Yankees 3 Comments »My father is the man who first instilled in me a love of sports. Growing up in the suburbs of New York in the 1950s, we followed the traditional New York teams — the Yankees, football Giants, Knicks and Rangers.
It was 50 years ago this summer that my Dad took me to my first baseball game at Yankee Stadium. I’ll never forget that day, that first glimpse of the green cathedral in the Bronx. The Yankees lost 7-1 to the White Sox, but my favorite player, Bill “Moose” Skowron, homered to account for the only Yankee run. I was hooked on sports. For life. The SportsLifer.
My father also took me to my first NFL game at Yankee Stadium, to Knicks and Rangers games at the old Madison Square Garden. We watched games on the old black and white Philco and listened to the Yankees and Giants on the radio. We played golf with my younger brother. We lived sports.
My Mom and Dad moved to Florida nearly 30 years ago, and they still live there. Dad roots for the Yankees, although he now follows the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Lightning.
We talk all the time about the state of the Yankees, the modern player, the glory years. This morning, we spoke at length about Tiger Woods and the US Open.
Happy Father’s Day, Dad. Thanks for showing me the way.
Love, Rick
What a great story. Moose was always my favorite player, too.
The first time I meant him was in Clearwater Fa. at Jack Russell Stadium. My Dad took me to the game and on our way into the stadium we walked up a ramp and Moose and most of his teammates were sitting there eating lunch. Another kid climbed over the railing and his dad lowered him down. My Dad did the same and I got autographs from Mickey, Roger, Whitey, Yogi, Elston, and others. What a great thrill this was.
Although the autographs disappeared when I went swimming with my wallet in my pants, and my Dad has been gone 18 yrs, this is just about the most wonderful thing he and I ever did together.
Thanks so much for bringing back this pleasant memory.
PS. I’m going golfing today and am wearing my #14 Skowron jersey.
Yeah, the Moose was quite a first baseman. I remember how sad I was when the Yankees traded him to the Dodgers for Stan Williams after the 1962 World Series to make way for Joe Pepitone. Skowron was on the 1963 Dodger team that swept the Yankees in the Series. I’ve hard him say that the four World Series rings he won with the Yankees — 1956, 1958, 1961 and 1962 — are more important to him than the Dodger ring. In other words, Moose is a Yankee.
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