Reminiscences of an Old-Time Baseball Fan

Reminiscences of an Old-Time Baseball Fan Bob Cullen Sr. (bio) My earliest memory of Major League Baseball was in 1944 as a nine-year-old boy living in Somerville, Massachusetts. I remember that two teams from St. Louis—the Browns and the Cardinals—played in the World Series that year. But I really came of age as a baseball fan in 1945. I attended my first Major League game in May of that year. My father was stationed in the Pacific during the war, so my mother took me to the game (after, I’m sure, much pleading on my part). It was a Saturday double-header between the Red Sox and the Washington Senators, and we sat in the uncomfortable right field bleachers. A rookie Red Sox pitcher, Dave “Boo” Ferriss, won the first game with a strong pitching performance and I became a great fan of his. He went on to win twenty-one games in 1945 and twenty-five games in 1946.1 However, he developed a sore arm in 1947 and never regained his pitching ability, ending his career in 1950. I remember that my mother wanted to leave half-way through the second game, as many people were doing, but I wouldn’t hear of it. We had to stay for the entire game. I believe that the Senators won the night cap. I do not recall the names of any other Red Sox players, but I do remember one Washington player—George Case, who was renowned as a stellar base stealer. I believe he stole a couple of bases during the double-header. Most of the great baseball players were in the service in 1945. As a result, the major league rosters contained an assortment of those too young for the draft, those too old, and those unfit for medical reasons. For example, Joe Nuxhall was fifteen years old when he pitched for Cincinnati in 1944, Cass Michaels was barely seventeen when he signed a major league contract with the Chicago White Sox, and Carl Scheib was sixteen when he was pitching for the Philadelphia Athletics. Older players were extending their careers in 1945 like future Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx, who played first base and pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies. Interestingly, years earlier, Babe Ruth went from a great pitcher to a great batter while Foxx went the other way—from a great hitter to a pitcher. Another 1945 player, Pete Gray, was a one-armed outfielder for the St. Louis Browns. [End Page 125] The year 1945 was a year of great anticipation for baseball fans. I began hearing about all those great Red Sox players who were in the service but would be back for the 1946 season—Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky, Dom DiMaggio, Tex Hughson. Some players were trickling back in during the last part of the 1945 season. Hank Greenberg and Virgil Trucks returned in time to help the Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox in the 1945 World Series.2 One special moment for me came near the end of the 1945 season. My uncle, who was a combat infantryman in Europe during the war, took me to a game at Fenway Park between the Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians. The main attraction was Bob Feller, one of baseball’s premier pitchers, who had recently been discharged and was pitching that day. This was my first exposure to the great players returning from the war. I don’t recall whether Feller won that game, but his appearance made a lasting impression on me. Finally, 1946 arrived and it couldn’t have been a better year for Red Sox fans. In the spring of 1946, it was my mother once again who took me to a Red Sox weekday game. It was a thrill to see Ted Williams and he didn’t disappoint by hitting a game-winning ninth or tenth inning home run. Ted immediately became my one and only sports idol for the rest of my life. With the return of Williams and his talented teammates, and with a strong pitching staff, the Red Sox won the American League pennant. We fans...

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