TALKING BASEBALL

I remember Bat Day at Tiger Stadium in 1967. The big white stadium was located right smack dab in the middle of Corktown, the old Irish community which originated in the 1840’s as a by-product of the Great Irish Potato Famine and more recently served as the local city slums. These slums gave the crackling ancient building a decrepit, medieval feel and once in the stands, with 10,000 kids banging newly acquired Louisville Sluggers into the concrete, and chanting ‘Who needs money- we want Cash” (Cash being the First Baseman Hall of Fame slugger Norm Cash) while the dust from the rafters and upper deck wafted down on your Lemonade and Ballpark Frank, and your dad hollered for the vendor to toss over some peanuts or Al Kaline Potato Chips.
For a kid like me, I imagined all that pounding and racket would be shaking that rickety old stadium right down into big pile of rubble any minute.


So now the Texas Rangers are up against the Detroit Tigers for the American League Pennant, and while I loved those Tigers when I lived in Detroit (even though that old stadium gave me the heebie-jeebies) I got the Rangers all the way baby!