Father’s Day
This Father’s Day I was thinking about my Dad and his interest in sports and the sporting events he took us to. I remember some stories Dad told me also.
Back in 1940 my Dad and his best friend Lee Fisher hitchhiked to see their first Indianapolis 500 race, they went all the way from Erie, Pa. I don’t remember all the details, but I know they went back a few more times and Lee and his wife and family went to Indianapolis for the 500 many more times for probably 30 years.
My Dad was a diehard baseball fan, his team was the Deeetroit Tigers, as he used to say! He used to listen to baseball games on the radio in the backyard in the summertime. Al Kaline and Denny McLain and others I can’t remember right now. He instilled in us his love for the game.
In the early 60’s Erie had a minor league baseball team, The Erie Sailors. They played at Ainsworth Field and we went to a number of games there, where got our first taste of professional baseball. Dad also took us to Cleveland for Indians games at Metropolitan Stadium on the lake front in Cleveland. We had a lot of great trips there. I remember Early Wynn and Vic Davalillo.
Our most memorable baseball game I remember was when we were visiting my Uncle Don Carlson and his family in St. Louis, Missouri. My Dad and Uncle Don took us to a St. Louis Cardinal game at the original Busch Stadium in 1967. The stadium was very new just built in 1966. We sat at the top row of the stadium, behind home plate. I remember standing on my seat looking out over the top edge of the stadium. We were pretty high up! The Cardinals were a great team that season! They were playing the Cincinnati Reds that night! I remember the Cardinal fans booing Pete Rose every time he came up to bat. The pitcher for the Cardinals was the great Bob Gibson. The Cardinals had a lot of great players then, Lou Brock, Ken Boyer and Orlando Cepeda! My memories of that game 52 years ago are really great!
Dad liked the Cleveland Browns and we would watch games on Sunday afternoon after our big Sunday Dinner. Dad was a busy man, after working all week at his day job, working part time at Richman Brothers Clothing store downtown, bowling on Thursday nights, Cub Scout meetings and running the Primary department of the Church Sunday school and singing in the choir. So on Sundays he wanted to watch the game and not be bothered by us. He would say “I just want to watch this game, be quiet!” Within a few minutes he was asleep in his chair!
Thanks Dad for all the great memories! We love you and miss you!
HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO ALL THE DADS OUT THERE!!!!!!
Bethany Bad Boys
Time out for Sports
Every Sunday after church at Bethany Lutheran Church during softball season all of us guys on the team would gather to make plans for the week. One Sunday my Dad came over to the group and said, “You boys have been acting up! You are the Bethany Bad Boys!” The guys loved it and the name stuck with the team forever!
We earned the name because we liked to celebrate after games, we would go to a local bar with our uniforms on, Bethany Lutheran Church. A couple times we went to our boathouse by the lake and a few times we made the 20 mile trip to Westfield, NY. To a bar on the state line. NY had 18 year old drinking age at the time.
One memorable time, our old guy, Dean, first baseman, probably 35, invited us over to his home. His wife and daughters were out of town. We all had some beers and we ate all the snacks. The only thing left was a box of dog biscuits. Dean and the guys challenged a few of us to eat the dog biscuits! Which we did (I did)! I didn’t get sick or break a tooth!
A few times we went to Partner’s Tavern. It was a place with scantily clad (if at all) dancers. One night one of the dancers was one of our former Sunday school girls. If only our pastor knew!! LOL.
And every once in a while my Dad had to come with us to keep the Bad Boys out of trouble. We had a lot of fun and watched out for each other!
Fish Story
Time Out for Sports
Fishing season is going on now but I have not got out fishing yet. But I was remembering a great Fish story the other day.
I used to go fishing with Linda’s Dad, her brothers Frank and Joe and Uncle Joe up at their camp just outside Tionesta. We had a lot of fun there listening to the stories of hunting and fishing from Uncle Joe and Linda’s Dad, Frank. We used to eat and drink well too.
This story relates to Trout fishing on the first day of Trout on two years in a row. We would fish Tionesta Creek and we would go to either the Kellettsville Bridge or the Nebraska Bridge and fish there and then go to the other spot later in the day.
The first day we went Frank and the guys took me to a place along the creek where the creek is very narrow, maybe 20feet across but very deep(10-15 feet). Frank warned me that it was slippery so be careful. I had my waders on and was cautiously fishing the stream. Then I slipped and went into the creek and underwater. I got out okay and the guys asked me if I was okay and gave me the Jeep keys to go back to Camp and change into dry clothes. I came back and we had a great time!
The next year we went to the same hole and I got the same warning but I tried the same hole out again! Guess what? I fell in the same hole again!!! But the kicker was…… after I fell in, another fisherman yelled over to Frank, “Didn’t that same guy fall in the same hole last year?”
Yeah, I lived to fish again but not in Tionesta Creek in my favorite hole!
Ryder Cup at Laurel Valley Golf Club – September 19-21, 1975
One of my fondest golf memories was the Ryder Cup that Arnold palmer hosted at Laurel Valley Golf club, Ligonier Pa. in 1975. Arnold was the Captain of the team of 12 great golfers. The team consisted of Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Weiskopf, J C Snead, Bob Murphy, Johnny Miller, Lou Graham, Al Geisberger, Gene littler, Ray Floyd, Hale Irwin and Billy Casper. These were the best of the best in 1975.
I got to be there for the whole 3 day event. Like most golf tournaments they depend on volunteers and the Boy Scouts were asked to provide Scouts and leaders to help with various jobs. My job on all three days was to walk around the course with two Scouts who were carrying the signs about the score of the group we were walking with. I got to walk with Trevino and Irwin on Friday, Trevino and Bob Murphy on Saturday and Jack Nicklaus and Trevino on Sunday. At the time Bob Murphy was my favorite and my brothers had nicknamed me “Bob Murphy”, not because I played golf like him but because I was chubby like him. Lol.
My favorite player that weekend was Lee Trevino. We were close enough to hear Trevino constantly talking, ribbing the other golfers, especially his teammates. I remember Nicklaus and Trevino really going at each other, entertaining the crowd. It was a long weekend but a lot of fun.
A few weeks after the event Laurel Valley Golf club set up a golf event for the adult volunteers. I got to play Laurel Valley with three of my Scout friends, Dave Somerville, Al Saraceni and Chuck Ferguson. I think we had at least one caddy from the course who helped us out. Chuck and Al were pretty good for our group and Dave was okay, but me……. We managed to complete the course and I gave the caddy a lot of laughs. We were thrilled to play Laurel Valley. The course was beautiful and very tough. The roughs were very rough, grass about 6 inches high! The greens were over the speed limit……
That’s a great memory for me, one of many I had working with the Scouts!
Time Out for Sports-
With the Easter holiday here, my thoughts went back to growing up and spending time with family. We played games, mostly sports when we got together at holidays.
In the winter months our time inside was spent playing ping pong and table top hockey for hours. We always kept score and kept track of wins and losses on the blackboard in the basement. It was fun but serious to us Waite boys!!
Once the snow was almost gone we started playing one on one basketball in the driveway, even before the driveway was paved, we played in the mud. Jeff, Gordon and I played every day after school and on weekends. Again we kept score and standings. For the most of the time I was in third place. When we weren’t playing baseball, when we got older we turned to horseshoes. Again competition…… I was a little better in horseshoes, because I was a softball pitcher, lol. We tried tennis too, Gordon and I which led to more fierce competition. Gordon was 11 months younger than I, so we were close…. too close.
Our friends in high school Jeff and Gary Youngbergs’ mom would yell at them when we visiting them, “Those Waite boys never fight.”
She never saw us in our driveway or in the basement playing sports!!!!
Golf Experiences
Golf in the summer of 2018 was wet! We golfed at a lot of good courses but couldn’t avoid the clouds and even if it was not raining the courses were very wet.
We played at Cloverleaf near Delmont and it was dry for the first nine, but as we started the back nine it started raining. We got to hole #12, Chris and I were playing together, but Chris went to drop me off at the gold tees, for us experienced players, and the cart was going up a hill, as Chris stopped the cart it began to slide backwards down the hill going across the fairway, we slid about 50 yards and were headed for the trees, when we thought we might have to jump out of the cart, but Chris turned the cart to the left and it came to a stop. You should have seen those tire ruts!!
We played in three events including the Penn Hills Chamber event at Green Oaks in Oakmont and St. Emma’s tournament at Hannastown. At Green Oaks I won the longest putt contest with a putt of 24 feet 10 inches. I won a certificate to the pro shop. I also won the 50/50 drawing, an overnight stay at a hotel and Chris won golf for a foursome at Totteridge. We did pretty well that day!
We really enjoyed the outing for St. Emma’s, didn’t win any prizes but had a great steak dinner at St. Emma’s monastery after the golf. The highlight was we got our picture taken with Mother Mary Ann. We’re already registered for this year’s event in August.
Now for my ranking of the Courses we played in 2019. I will also give each course a letter grade.
- Totteridge A
- Hidden Valley A
- Green Oaks A
- Hannastown A
- Norvelt B
- Donegal Highlands B
- Clover Leaf B
- Mannito C-
We ate and drank at all the courses, except for Hannastown. At Green Oaks for the event we had lunch and dinner that were both excellent.
For the best food not part of an event, I have to rate Norvelt as the best restaurant!
More stories in future editions and you can follow our adventures during the 2019 golf season!
With the Easter holiday here, my thoughts went back to growing up and spending time with family. We played games, mostly sports when we got together at holidays.
In the winter months our time inside was spent playing ping pong and table top hockey for hours. We always kept score and kept track of wins and losses on the blackboard in the basement. It was fun but serious to us Waite boys!!
Once the snow was almost gone we started playing one on one basketball in the driveway, even before the driveway was paved, we played in the mud. Jeff, Gordon and I played every day after school and on weekends. Again we kept score and standings. For the most of the time I was in third place. When we weren’t playing baseball, when we got older we turned to horseshoes. Again competition…… I was a little better in horseshoes, because I was a softball pitcher, lol. We tried tennis too, Gordon and I which led to more fierce competition. Gordon was 11 months younger than I, so we were close…. too close.
Our friends in high school Jeff and Gary Youngbergs’ mom would yell at them when we visiting them, “Those Waite boys never fight.”
She never saw us in our driveway or in the basement playing sports!!!!
When we were in high school our Church Sunday wanted to start a softball team. The YMCA had a Church league and they offered two types of teams. Fast pitch softball and slo-pitch softball.
Our first team was in the slo-pitch league using a softball the size of a grapefruit. You pitch underhand and it has to be in an 8 foot arc. We fielded a team with some of the Dads and some groups of brothers, including Gordon and I. I tried my hand at pitching. We had fun but I don’t remember winning too many games. We didn’t have uniforms or shirts. My Dad played in his white T-shirt, my friend Gary Youngberg called him “Underwear Man.” Lol.
The next year we graduated to the Fast pitch softball. There were a lot of church teams, some churches had two or three teams. It was organized from Major League, AAA, AA, A and down to D league. There were 5 teams in each league. Guess where we started? D League! The games we played on School fields throughout Erie. Major League got the best field and D got the worst. We played on gravel fields, no grass. We tore up a lot of pants and knees sliding in gravel, especially me!!
We were from Bethany Lutheran Church, a Swedish Lutheran Church in downtown Erie. My Grandparents John and Helen Carlson were founding members. We were Swedes on my mother’s side. We had a lot of brothers to form the team, we had 3 Waites, Gordon, Jeff and I, 2 Youngbergs, 3 Bensons, 2 Swansons, 3 Gustafsons and a Peterson. Our Coach was Dick Haglund who as in his thirties, the old guy. We struggled our first year or two but we got better as we played together. We got Blue and Yellow T- shirts, Swedish colors.
My brother Gordon was one of our best players, both on the field and at the plate. His nickname was “Brooks” for Brooks Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles. I filled in many positions, but tried hard. One of my most memorable experiences were around our pitcher Gary Peterson. He had a slight disability and couldn’t run too fast. Our Church league brethren caught on quickly and would bunt the ball in front of Gary to get on base. One team bunted about 5 times in a row to score 2 or 3 runs. Gary and the rest of us just blew it off and played our best.
I played about 4 or 5 years through my college years. Gordon and Jeff continued along with most of the rest of the guys. The team steadily advanced through the leagues. If you won the league you would move up to the next league, C, then B, then A. The Bethany team eventually made the Major League to play against our cousins the Gribbins from Bethel Baptist Church, the church my Dad grew up in. My cousin Fred Gribbin was their pitcher. He was one of the best pitchers I had ever seen. That had been our goal to make it to the majors and play against Fred.
I don’t remember if we ever beat Fred and Bethel Baptist, but I do think Bethany won the Major League one year. I have to ask my brother Jeff about that. I was working here in Greensburg at the time, over forty years ago.
I have more stories about our Bethany team especially how we earned our name my Dad christened us….. THE BETHANY BAD BOYS!
One of the stories concerns beer and dog biscuits!!!
Its baseball season and my memories go back to growing up. Starting at about age 10 baseball was our sport it is what we did in the spring, summer and fall. Gordon, Jeff and I all started playing about the same time, Gordon 9, Jeff 5 and me 10. Even though Jeff was 5 years younger he did everything with Gordon and me. Gordon and I taught Jeff how to throw and catch and even though he was left handed we taught him to bat right-handed.
Our Dad started us out, throwing and catching in the back yard. Whiffle ball was big then and we would play that in the back yard, saved on broken windows by flying baseballs.
PThen we graduated to playing baseball in the street, moving every time a car passed by. Most of the neighbor boys participated. We were all learning at the same time. We all wanted to be superstars and get the big hits. I remember one boy struck out and he went behind a tree to cry. His Dad and Mom were both great ball players. I remember a lot of balls going in to sewers and us trying to fish them out. We used our baseballs till they completely fell apart. We used to use black electrical tape to wrap around the baseball to save them.
Then we made a ball field in an empty lot behind our house. Making a pitcher’s mound, dugouts, not really dug out. Just planks of lumber on rocks. One of the boys would try to borrow their Dad’s lawnmower without them knowing. Rocks did a number on the blades of the mower. The young neighbor kids including my brother Doug would dig holes in the outfield and cover them with grass to catch rabbits. They caught my ankles a couple of times though. A neighbor lady would yell at us if a ball went in her yard and she would not let us retrieve he balls from her yard, she would keep them. Sometimes we sneak in and get them.
Our goal was to make the Little League. In those days there were tryouts to fill 40 positions on the 6 teams. Always over 120 boys trying out. I never made little league. My brother Gordon made it when he was 12 and he was the best in our family. Jeff made it the first year he tried out, then the next year he was picked for our neighbor’s team, Andy was the Coach. All I remember about Jeff’s team is that after the game they always got drinks, 14 cokes and an orange. Jeff didn’t like Coke.
Lots of great memories. Kids don’t make fields in empty lots anymore and play pickup games. Then we graduated to Church softball, more on that another time.
I was attending East Junior/Senior High School in Erie, Pa. in 1963. One day in January, they announced that there would be a special assembly program for the Senior High only featuring Sports figures in the Auditorium. I was in 7th grade reading class with Mrs. Conway. All the boys in the class asked her if we could go to the assembly. She let us go and we ran to the back of the Auditorium just as the program was beginning. Bob Prince, the Pittsburgh Pirates broadcaster was in Erie for the Annual Sports Banquet at the Beachcomber Restaurant. He was hosting the assembly and introduced a number of athletes that were in town for the Banquet.
The first was Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants, The Say Hey Kid. Prince announced that Mays just signed a contract to be the first player to be payed $100,000.
Mays hit 302 for 22 years with the Giants, 3283 hits and 660 homeruns.
Prince then introduce the current first base man Donn Clendenon. Prince was really excited to introduce the Pirates newest rookie…….Willie Stargell. Stargell played 20 years for the pirates, hitting.282 with 2,232 hits and 475 home runs.
From that point on I worshipped Willie Stargell and even copied his swing at the plate in my sandlot games.
Wow! what a memory from 56 years ago.
Baseball Season Near
As we approach another baseball season optimism is in the air at Spring Training. Spring is at least six weeks away in Pa. but the season stars in three weeks.
Baseball was first sport I played and followed. I started following teams, first the Cleveland Indians then the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The first season I remember[JW1] was 1960, I was nine. AS the season went on my brother Gordon and I picked teams to follow, Gordon the Yankees and me the Pirates. Gordon and I were very competitive in everything. As luck would have it, when the season ended it was Yankees and the Pirates in the World Series.
One of my fondest memories, on the day of Game #7, I was walking home from elementary school listening to the game on my transistor radio when I heard the announcer report that Bill Mazeroski hit a home run and won the series for the Pirates.. Gordon never heard the end of it.
That moment sealed me as a Pirate fan just over 58 years ago.
Looking forward to season #59! Let’s go Bucs!