As I sat in the church on that hot Dallas morning listening to Bob Costas deliver a most heart warming and wrenching eulogy, I couldn’t help but recall the first time my father took me to Yankee stadium.

He is Dodger fan, so much so, that he moved from Brooklyn to L A to be near his beloved bums but, he knew that I, along with every other kid in those days had but one idol; Mickey Mantle.

I remember him stepping out of the dugout and the whole stadium changed. It suddenly became smaller as did everything when Mickey was around. He was a mountain of a man, and the rippling pin-striped uniform did nothing to diminish his prominence.

For years I played backyard games as Mickey and all throughout Little League I wore the old beaten tee shirt with that famed number 7 on it under my uniform. In my head I secretly announced his name when I went to the plate. He and I won many World Series together in that league during the long days of many southern California summers.

Years later I was in an airport down south and ran into him as he was walking out of a bar. I did approach him and was quickly and rudely dismissed or ignored rather. The next day at a trade show I bumped into him as he was exiting the elevator. He reeked of booze and pushed his way past everyone on his way to the little table they had setup for him to “greet and meet”. I, like so many that day stood on line for a chance to speak with or perhaps even shake the hand of the man we so admired. But this was a shell of the former. I found him to be discourteous to say the least, not the icon I had grown up in awe of.

I learned later in life that he was not the person I made him out to be, he was not a good roll model nor was he a particularly good teammate. He was a poor father and an ever worse husband. He took the talent that he was given for granted and drank away most of his life. He never did come to terms with his relationship with his overbearing father. No matter how hard he tried he could not please that man.

In his last few years he became a broken angry sullen man with an almost distain for the very public that embraced him as a national hero. It wasn’t until his liver quit on him that he began to try to right the many wrongs of his life.

By the end of the service I began to understand him much more. Not as a fallen hero but as a man, a man who had faults just like me, a man who almost waited too long to repair his relationships, a man that inspired a generation. A larger than life country boy who nearly got swallowed up by the game he loved so much.

When Mr. Costas finished there was not a dry eye in the place, old men wept like little boys. Grown women wiped tears from their eyes. People in their 70’s, 60’s, 50’s me in my 30’s we all said goodbye that day to a fallen hero and to something else; our childhood. Yes, we all grew up that day,friends, hall of famers, fans together in a sea of tears. We all came together to honor man who did the best he could and though he didn’t always do the right thing in the end, he did teach us all something about life...


kc08


brought on by d4tc's write http://mingle2.com/topic/show/163913

A day i shall remember for a lifetime to come,, As you know my boys and I use to live at Dodger Stadium,, as a child my Father took me to many games.. Baseball was a house hold name in our home,,,

Bravoooooooooooooooooo,, again you amaze me with your depth your deep compassion

you

hey d4tc started this with his wonderful write
but i thank you from the bottom of my heart

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Yes he did,, And you extended the journey with warmth and deep compassion,,
two incredible souls

Excellent write (((K))).....not everyone can see the humanity in those who appear to be so deeply wounded

touching...

S

You are so correct...thank you for seeing

INCREDIBLE WRITE!

I feel honored!

Love the true story and a great message. Powerful and emotional.



I'm definetely going to read this one again later.

thank you that is a wonderful compliment, though I did get a little emotional and messed up at the end by repeating “fallen hero”...glad to see the message gets through...

Dude that was so...real

David

thanks david
i was feeling a bit sentimental yesterday…