Good catch,
JR! That was from a 1966 game against The Yankees with the Yankee lineup still featuring Mantle, Maris, Ford, Howard, Richardson, et al. By happenstance I sat next to
Lary Doby that day and at the age of nine I had no idea who he was. I've told the story before, but many press guys and others kept coming by to shake Lary's hand and chat with him. I finally asked Lary "who are you" and he told me he used to play for the Indians. He autographed the front of the score book and I shared with
Loufla this evening. You may recall,
Lou has a much more personal connection to Lary Doby than I ever did, plus I have more sports memorabilia remaining than I'll likely ever be able to completely display.
I told
Loufla tonight that we were again going to be in trouble with
JR for not getting a picture. By the time the fine evening grew late and midnight approached we had enjoyed much great wine from Lou's cellar and wonderful food and had hours of great conversation.
Lou knows his wines to a far greater breadth and depth than I do. He pulled some wonderful bottles out with varying age themes to pair with superb food offerings he and
Eva prepared and served. Great cooks do not always wish to part with fine recipes, but I will offer that
Lou picked up a Bolognese sauce recipe tip from Italy that far surpasses any Italian sauce I have previously enjoyed in the North Beach (Italian) part of San Francisco.
Irony of the evening was that
Lou arranged for my wife and I to visit while one of his former students and his wife were staying, and it turns out the student and I worked for the same 5,000 employee company in The Carolinas over twenty years ago. We had many common stories to share.....and we did. Fortunately our wives got the conversation off of our old work and our evening group conversation moved on......to a very broad range of topics over the hours. There was no shortage of conversationalists and conversation starters in the dinner party. It was a superb evening for my wife and I.
And Lou was a super trooper in arranging for us to dine outside in the Florida warmth to accommodate me....or shall I say sit outside in the stifling heat and humidity that others may have noted....
Personally, I loved the outside dining. Next time though, I'll insist we dine with climate control for the preferences of others.....
Most of you all here have met Lou and Eva long ago and know they are fine people. It's been great for my wife and I to spend time with them just for personal affirmation of something I already knew.
Next time
JR, we'll get the pic. First though I need a couple days in the gym to work off this evening's wonderful meal in Lou and Eva's fine home. We're already talking about meeting up to watch the latest Woody Allen movie at a soon to open theatre here that conveniently will be serving wine and food......
(Oh, and we did monitor The Tribe score in progress, though I waited to get home to check my horse racing and NASCAR results....
.........)