Ferguson Jenkins, Jody Davis, Billy Williams, Rollie Fingers, Juan Marachal, JR Richard, Willie Wilson, Al Downing, George Foster, Gary Bell, Ron Robinson, John Mayberry, Steve Trout, Lee Arthur Smith, Jay Johnstone, Randy Hundley Bob Dernier and Bert Campaneris. Those are some of the baseball greats...some present Hall-Of-Famers and some future Hall-Of-Famers we saw play in a charity ball game at HoHoKam park.
The gates to the park opened at 4:30pm. We entered armed with three newly purchased major league baseballs hoping to score a few autographs ($20-$40 each). But 100% of the proceeds were going to charity so I was happy to contribute. First up was a 'Meet and Greet' on the field where some 'unauthorized' autographs and authorized photos could be had. We spent the next 45-minutes shaking hands, getting photos and chatting with some of the players. If any of you remember Hall-Of-Fame reliever Lee Smith you might recall that every time he was on the mound his facial expression made him look like he was in pain. I asked him about that. He laughed and replied, "Hell, the sun was in my eyes...I couldn't see the plate"! For a fellow who "couldn't see the plate" he had an amazing ability to stymie batters with his fast ball. Most of the players were very accommodating and really made everyone feel welcome. George Foster seemed bored with the whole thing while Steve Trout went out of his way to be sure we got the photo we wanted.
After the 'Meet and Greet' the official autograph session began. It was hard deciding whose autograph I wanted because as I keep telling everyone, 'Rich is my name, not my financial condition'. Ernie Banks was scheduled to appear but had to withdraw. Too bad because his is one autograph i really wanted. Donna and I discussed it and we agreed to try to get Hall-Of-Famer Billy Williams, Jody Davis and Hall-Of-Famer Lee Smith, all former Cub players.
With those autographs safely in hand we settled in and waited for the game to start. There were several thousand people in the stands and it was a definite party atmosphere. The opposing team was made up of local radio personalities, ad execs and business executives from the greater Phoenix area. With the exception of one or two none of these guys had any sort of baseball experience. But then they were going to face a team of guys whose average age was past Medicare.
After the team introductions and the singing of the National Anthem the game got underway. One of the ex-players, John Warden of the Detroit Tigers had an open mic on the field and had the crowd in stitches with his running commentary. His promising career was cut short due to a serious injury but that didn't stop him from doing a more than credible job as a local stand-up comic. The one time that Warden came up to bat he pointed to right field, in effect 'calling his shot' a la Babe Ruth.
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What a thrill it was to see Fergie, Steve Trout, Rollie Fingers and other former greats up on the mound and pitching again. One of the locals had managed to effect a hit off of the Astro's JR Richard. After that the smile disappeared from Richard's face and he threw blazing heat! At age 58! While there were a few fouls, there were no more hits. Lee Smith had a hard time because he was laughing so hard at Warden's comments.
The game lasted 7-innings and saw the 'Friends' beat the locals 10-7. At the conclusion of the game Donna was able to snare a few free autographs from Bert Campaneris, John Warden and former Harlem Globetrotter great Meadowlark Lemon. We had such a great time we didn't want to leave the ballpark.
