The first time I ever went to a Yankee game was in 1964 with my Dad and my best friend and his Dad. My Dad got tickets from somewhere and we were going to the Stadium. And a night game too!
I went out to box ball on the street that morning as I always did during the summer. All the kids went out on Tompkins Place and we played box ball and stick ball and Skelly and Johnnie on the pony and Ringolevio all day long. So as we are playing there suddenly was a big commotion at the Geraci's house. Their house was weird because the never locked the front door to the vestibule. So you could walk right in without a key!
Well this day a bum went into the vestibule and went to sleep. Now we had bums back then, We didn't call them "homeless." They were bums or derelicts and were chased away from business and homes. There weren't all that many of them in our neighborhood because the Norwegian Seaman's church offered rooms for about $1 a day and most of the people who feel on hard times would go there. So if you were on the street it was your choice. There was one guy we all called Rockafella. He was a former longshoreman and had lost his hand. He would get drunk on cheap wine and rant about Rockefeller and the rich bankers and stuff. You know. Sort of like garage mahal. Everybody ignored him or gave he a dime because he was harmless. But nobody knew this guy sleeping in the vestibule.
Now the Geraci's had a big savage German Shepard. That something you don't see much anymore. The breed is not as popular as it used to be. They were replaced by pitt bulls as the savage guard dogs. But in the sixties everybody had a German Shepard if they felt they needed protection. Well Mrs. Geraci let the dog out on this bum and started biting the shit out of him while she was smacking him with a mop handle. He jumped up and staggered away. And that was that. Now if it happened today it would be an international incident and a hate crime and all kind of shit. But now it was all over. Well except for all the new words we learned that day. You see Mrs. Geraci was cursing and screaming and we learned a few new words. Cocksucker. Motherfucker. Spook. Shine. Spade. And of course the N word.
You see the bum was black. He was in the wrong place in Carroll Gardens in 1964. Just sayn'
Anyhoo after all the excitement that morning we all walked down to the Subway to go to the Stadium. I will never forget the view when the Number 4 train burst out of the tunnel into the light and you could see the Stadium and all the people walking on River Avenue. Buying programs and hot dogs and beers. The excitement was almost too much even before we went up to our seats in the Upper Deck. This was the "old" old stadium with all the pillars and posts that blocked your view. Everybody seemed to be dressed up. Wearing white dress shirts and hats. Lots of the men were wearing ties. It was different back then.
So we are sitting there watching the last great Yankee team before they fell of the cliff. There was Mickey Mantle and Tom Tresh and a new young kid called Mel Stottlemyre. And my favorite player Roger Maris. They still had all the old stars and Yogi was the manager. But they weren't playing all that well and the natives were getting restless. I guess they sensed the team was getting too old and the string had run out. Anyway it was an exciting game. As I remember Johnny Blanchard hit two home runs. He was the backup catcher who couldn't catch but had some pop in his bat. It was in the late innings, maybe even the bottom of the ninth. The score was tied and there was a man on base and they decide to pinch hit for Johnny. which was strange but it was a lefty/righty thing. But everybody started booing and I wanted to get into the spirit of thing. I decided I wanted to use one of those new words I had learned that day. So I stood up and squeaked in my loudest voice "Get that Nigger off the Field!"
My father grabbed me and slapped me off the head. I was stunned. What did I do?
Well you see the pinch hitter was catcher Elston Howard. The first black Yankee. And to top it off there were five black guys sitting right behind us. My Dad turned to them and said "The kid doesn't even know what that means. We don't talk like that." And they were cool. Of course today I would have arrested. But it was a simpler time back in 1964. Dare I say a better time.
I always think of this story on opening day. Oh and on Martin Luther King Day. And of course today on Inaugural Day.
