During the hazy and lazy days of summer I feel like sharing some thoughts down memory lane. I don’t know where 40 years have gone. I remember July 1969 like it happen last week. I also remember Uncle Walter, Apollo 11, The Miracle Mets and my beloved Washington Senators (Nats) and Redskins, who were both pretty good ball clubs that season.This blog I hope will appeal to the die hard Washingtonians my age, for others well sorry, its my blog but I hope you enjoy it and maybe reflect on where you were in 1969. For you young ones, well this was my world then:
Any way, in July, 1969 my Dad had purchased our first color TV the day of the 1969 Major League Baseball All Star game which was being played at RFK stadium which was about 45 minutes away from my home. In fact, the stadium had only been named RFK for less than a two months, it was originally named DC Stadium when it open in 1961 and was named after the late Robert F. Kennedy.
I was excited to watch the game in color, my favorite player Frank Howard, known as Hondo and the best relief pitcher baseball that season and fellow teammate of Hondo’s, Darrell Knowles, who had returned from active duty in Vietnam. I remember my Dad rushed to set the TV up with the antenna, however, all for not. It poured rain that evening in DC and the game was postponed until the next afternoon. My folks who both worked missed the game, but my buddies and I all watched the game that afternoon at my house. For a 10 year old kid, I was in heaven watching Hondo hit a massive home run. What else stands out that game was Willie McCovey hit two massive shots that day and for the first time I appreciated how powerful a hitter can be in watching a left handed hitter belt a home run into the upper deck on a high inside corner fastball. The only other player I have ever saw do this was Reggie Jackson when he was with the A’s and I saw it live at RFK stadium in 1971.
It meant a lot to me then because many of my friends (God love em) were obnoxious Orioles and Yankees fans. During the school year prior to the 69 season I became excited when Ted Williams agreed to manage the Nats. My Mom a big baseball fan (Yankees Ugh!!!) herself told me that Williams will be exciting because she remembers him as a player, not just a great hitter but a temper that would make Billy Martin look like a choir boy and maybe that is what the Nats needed. So, since my Mom is always right as she still is to this day, I could not wait for the 69 season. I would mouth off that the Nats would be a wining team in 1969. Of course, my friends and foes would tease the hell out me and tell me that the Senators and I sucked period.
OK, the Orioles fans could back it up. In fact I probably watched at least 30 O’s games, knew their lineup by heart and I hated Dave McNally (he was a great guy and left us all too soon) known as McLucky, who never lost to my Senators. Interestingly enough, that season McNally began with a 15-0 record. I remember his first loss that season was to the Twins in Bloomington. My Nats were playing a night game that evening and it was raining that afternoon so I tuned into the game and I received a double treat that day, McNally lost and Earl Weaver got tossed (now that’s an f-ing surprise) before the game began. In fact, this is an Earl Weaver story that is rarely ever mentioned so here goes: When the Orioles played the Twins on Friday evening at the beginning of the three game away stand, Weaver got tossed for smoking a cigarette in the dugout. Yes, believe it or not such a rule existed back then but was rarely enforced. However, Weaver being the sweet guy that he was towards the men in blue was the perfect candidate to enforce such a rule. The next day, when McNally was going to attempt to go 16-0, Weaver, comes out for the pre game with a bubble gum cigarette and gets tossed again for being a smart ass.
My childhood friends that were Yankee fans, could not back it up, because the Yankees (I love this) SUCKED!! They really did and I had the last laugh with all of them that season. By the way, I still think the Yankees suck.
On the day the Eagle lands at the Sea of Tranquility, the Nats were playing a double header against…. the YANKEES in New York. My Nats were a few games over 500 and the Bronx Bombers were about a dozen games under 500. I remember that an unknown rookie for the Yankees by the name of Thurman Munson came into pinch hit in the second game and struck out. I liked Thurman Munson and he also left the world too soon. What I remember on this day is that my parents had the color TV on all day in the living room watching the moon landing coverage on CBS, while I watched the Nats play upstairs on our B&W TV set. My folks said that they would holler out to me when the Eagle was about to land, however, I knew when it was going to land because the game was interrupted for the coverage of the landing. I ran down stairs to watch this with my parents and my one year old sister. I remember hearing Armstrong and Houston control back and forth and then Armstrong informing the world that the Eagle has landed. My folks were smiling in amazement, the TV coverage turned back to Walter Cronkite and I remember Uncle Walter wiping his forehead with a handkerchief. I went back upstairs and the game was back on.The Nats won the game and I was able to watch them sweep the Yankees before Armstrong’s walked on the moon. I remember I stayed downstairs to watch the moon walk with my folks. I thought it would be in color but it was in B&W. My little sister was long ago asleep so it was just my folks and I who watched Neil Armstrong step off the LEM. Wow, I still get goose bumps.
The week after the moon landing my family went to Queens to visit my grandparents and other relatives. My cousin and my Uncle were Mets’ fans. Even though my Grandpa was a Yankee fan his whole life, he had become interested in Mets and the fact that the Yankees, well sucked, I think he like a lot of other New Yorkers, viewed the Mets as getting interesting. For me, I have figured out why I loved the Mets that year as well. Both the Mets and Senators in 1968 were dead last in their leagues.The Mets had never had a winning record in their brief history and the Nats had not had a winning season since the 1950’s. As far as my brief existence was concerned, I developed a love for the Mets because I saw them as the I did the Nats, both teams hate the Yankees, both teams are always being laughed at and both teams were better than the Yankees. Plus,all Mets’ games were on TV in New York. I thought that was heaven for a baseball fan. Back in 1969 there were only about 40-50 Nat games that would be televised during the season. The rest of the games one would have to listen to on the radio. With the exception of the two weeks I was in New York, I listened or watched every Nats game. My Grandpa made sure I had the sports page while visiting so that I could keep track of my Nats and Hondo’s home run totals. Hondo hit 48 homers that season (NO STEROIDS)! I watched every Mets game on TV while in New York and the ultimate treat was when my Uncle, a huge baseball fan and a hell of a coach took me and my cousin to Shea Stadium to watch the Mets play the Pirates. My Uncle had a season press pass to all Mets games because he was a local weatherman. We sat in the press box and I felt like I was the King of World. What I remember on a negative note was the violence in the stands. There was a fist fight every inning at Shea. I remember rookie Gary Gentry pitching and Ed Charles striking out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning.The Mets lost that game and although they were 10 games in back of the Cubs, they were above 500. Tom Seaver and Cleon Jones became my favorite Mets that summer.
Finally, the summer of excitement continued with Vince Lombardi taking over as heard coach of the Washington Redskins. I was excited and my most of my obnoxious friends were Colts fans would were still getting over Broadway Joe humiliating them in Super Bowl III. I had one up on them because I was the only one who placed 50 cent to one dollar bets that the Jets would win. I also had the last laugh when the Mets humiliated the Orioles in the 69 World Series. However, that did not stop them from saying that the Redskins and I still sucked. My favorite Redskin of course was Sonny Jurgensen. Coach Lombardi made Sonny a winner and he set the foundation for the run of success this team would achieve through the 70’s and 80’s. Unfortunately, Coach Lombardi left us too soon in 1970.
