Each of these autographs was the result of a random encounter my parents had with these baseball icons. The menu in the background is from the restaurant where my dad met Curt Flood (the autograph is on the flip-side) during his brief stint with the Washington Senators (13 games in 1971). Anyone that ever benefited from free agency in baseball ought to be tithing something to Curt Flood's estate (or at the very least to a charity in his name).
My mom ran into Sandy Koufax while skiing in Maine at some point in the 1970s.
The Casey Stengel encounter is the only one I have any regrets (which is, perhaps, too strong of a word for the feeling) about because I was supposed to be there. This occurred at the 1969 All-Star game at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. We were living in Silver Spring, MD. My dad had gotten tickets and I was supposed to go to the game with him. Alas, that week I came down with, if memory serves, the German Measles (chicken pox and mumps had already had their turns with our family) and could not attend the game. The autograph was a wonderful consolation, but I was still extremely disappointed (what 8-year-old baseball fan wouldn't be!) that I wasn't able to actually be at the game.
What an eventful 10 days that would have been (still was, actually)! My brother was born on the 13th. Apollo 11 Launched on the 16th. Neil Armstrong walked on the moon on the 20th (I remember watching, riveted to our old black & white TV). The All-Star game was scheduled for the 22nd, but rained out and played on the 23rd.
Submitted to Macro Day's
Handwriting challenge and See It Sunday's
Retro challenge.
