There is no baseball at the Olympics

Or…softball, either.

What’s Up Wednesday?

a personal story from She’s a Keeper!

There is no baseball in the Olympics

~or softball either

On August 12, 1936 in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, an exhibition baseball game was being played in front of 90,000 spectators. They were performing in front of an Olympic committee to promote baseball inclusion as a future Olympic sport. The two teams, named the “World Champions” and the “U.S. Olympics” were both from the United States. The “World Champions” won the game 6-5.

My dad, a left-handed pitcher in college, was issued an invitation to play on that winning team but was unable to get the money to travel to Berlin that summer. He had to raise $100 and when he told this story he mentioned he couldn’t raise $10 at the time.

He had a scholarship to Oglethorpe University in Atlanta and was given free tuition, room, and board in recognition for the sports he played – basketball and baseball – which were played in the Winter and Spring. Since he did not play football for Oglethorpe, those Fall classes came out of pocket, so he worked in the summers to pay for them.

When I told my students this story, they were always dumbfounded that he didn’t play at the Olympics. Daddy’s playing days were for the love of the sport. It wasn’t about big money then. There were no NIKE endorsements or WHEATIES cereal box covers. He had to earn money in the summer to pay for college, which he didn’t have, as he felt that education was most important.

I think of the 1984 movie, “The Natural” with Robert Redford portraying Roy Hobbs, a purist. And like Roy, daddy finally got his chance to play baseball at the next level. He left Oglethorpe when he signed with the Chicago Cubs and seasoned up on their minor league team.

But when World War II entered, his playing days were interrupted as he joined the navy and spent his next several years stationed on a destroyer and participated in landings at Oran, Algiers, Salerno, Anzio, Normandy, and Southern France.

Then meeting his sweetheart on a visit home, he became engaged and married. After the war, minor leaguers might have also been looked up to a bit but there was no money in it. That wouldn’t do with a wife and a future daughter.

He received a letter from the Cubs after his return stating they were anxious for him to come back, but he didn’t. As Daddy told his story, he’d say, “I guess they are still waiting.”

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