The Boys of Summer

Are you now thinking of Don Henley? The great song by the ex-Eagle, that talks about being loyal to his love even after all the boys of summer have gone. I don’t blame you. Great song! But no. These boys of summer are professional baseball players. Some good sportswriter probably coined that term. The boys of summer.

I’m not a big baseball fan. But go Phils. I try to watch games on TV sometimes and inevitably fall asleep. But there was a time when baseball was important to me. When I was a kid I was a big NY Yankees fan. My dad and Uncle Dave and I would watch games on TV , while they drank Ballantine beer. Baseball and Ballantine was the slogan of the day. I was a fan then of Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Roger Maris , and the best of them all, Mickey Mantle. My dad took me to a game in Yankee Stadium. I remember being in left field as the Yanks played the Washington Senators. Good times. I gave up on the Yankees when they were swept by the Dodgers in the 1963 World Series. I gave up on Mickey Mantle later in life when I read a Mantle biography, “The Last Boy”, and found out what a rude and crass man he was. He once signed a baseball for a nine year old boy. This is what he wrote: “You’re a lucky kid. Your mom has great tits.” Okay then.

After 1963 I was a San Francisco Giants fan. Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Willie McCovey and the greatest ball player ever, Willie Mays. Willie sparked this blogpost. I was listening to sports radio. The question of the day was, who retired too late? Someone said Willie Mays. Willie Mays, the say hey kid! His famous basket catch in the outfield. That big electric smile. The 660 home runs hit in spite of those winds coming in off the bay in Candlestick Park. I guess I’d better not read a biography of Willie. I might get disillusioned again.

Sometimes, in the car, I listen to sports talk radio. You can tell by the calls that come in, that some peoples lives are entirely wrapped up in sports. That’s not me. But it does bring back some nice memories from my past. And nice memories are a wonderful thing to fall back on. Like Yogi Berra once famously said, “The future ain’t what it used to be.”