justplainbil

Just Plain Bill

Glad I First Learned About Sports

in the “Good Old Days”

As a kid, I could name for you the starting lineup for the minor league Oakland Oaks. And except for a call-up of a few players to the majors – Billy Martin, for one – I could do that for several years.

I grew up in Oakland, California in the 40s and early 50s, when sports were much different then they are today. You may ask, “How could sports be so different in the “good old days?”

The main difference is that professional players usually stayed on one team for all, or a majority of their careers. I know this changed with the actions of Curt Flood (whom I watched play when he was in high school). Flood “… became one of the pivotal figures in the sport's labor history when he refused to accept a trade following the 1969 season, ultimately appealing his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Although his legal challenge was unsuccessful, it brought about additional solidarity among players as they fought against baseball's reserve clause and sought free agency.” (www.wikipedia.com)

(On a side note, Flood played in the same McClymonds High School baseball outfield as Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson, all future major league all-stars. Boy, was I blessed to be able to watch those games for free!)

While free agency was a good thing for players, it led to the almost wholesale movement of players between teams, much like chess pieces in a game that’s full of chance - and a lot of guesswork. This movement has become comical, as my favorite team, the Oakland A’s, has made so many changes there are now only three players on the 25-man roster that I remember from just a year ago. I know the reason is purely financial – the A’s being the featured team in Michael Lewis’s bestseller Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game and its movie adaption. Teams have to find ways to compete on an uneven financial playing field. But having 22 members on a team be “new”? That’s a bit much. For me, loyalty to a brand is not the same as loyalty to a team. I am happy for the players, yet I yearn for the days when I could follow a team for years and know who’s who. Now, I suppose I’d be content with the same roster for a year or two.

(These major roster changes make me think of the old Abbot and Costello skit, “Who’s on First?”)

I know I’m talking like an “old timer”, even fondly remembering following teams on the radio before TV’s Game of the Week (yes, a single game a week, not all 30 teams’ every game “…subject to blackout restrictions”). I even listened to Oakland Oaks games recreated on the radio, complete with sound effects, as Bud Foster refashioned the game from the teletype! (What’s that?)

In closing, I was also blessed as an adult to be able to attend a pro football game that included the 49ers “million-dollar backfield” of Y.A. Title, Hugh McElhenny, Joe Perry, and John Henry Johnson – all future Hall of Famers.

And, I saw Bill Russell and his USF Dons in their undefeated year, paying $12 for a ticket.

Enough, old timer…