Former Galesburg High School girls basketball coach Evan Massey shares his insights on the game and other topics through his Massey Basketball blog, now featured here on WGIL.
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My dad, W.F.Massey was a high school teacher, coach, and athletic director in Savanna, Illinois. In Savanna, everyone called him “Mass.” Summers we loaded up the car and went back to where he had grown up, in rural Hollandale, Wisconsin. There to his four brothers and the family, he was his called by his middle name, “Ford.” Dad owned a dairy farm that he rented out. Our summers were spent cutting thistles, white washing the barn, building fences, and getting to play baseball with all the Massey cousins.
Usually one of the highlights of our Wisconsin summers was that we would go into the old Milwaukee County Stadium and see a game. Often it was to the see a game when the Cubs were in town- my brother, Mark and Dad were Cub fans.
Dad had a different plan for the summer of 1962. The Cubs were hosting one of the two All-Star games that summer. The game in Chicago was on July 30. For general admission seats, they limited two tickets to each person. To increase odds of getting tickets, Dad sent in three checks, three envelopes, and three requests under his name, my mom’s, and my brother. Grand stand seats were $3.50 each, so it was not cheap in 1962. We hit the lottery, we got 3 pairs of tickets.
So early the morning of July 30, six of us loaded up into our Olds 88 and headed for Chicago. It was our family plus cousins, Kenny and David. My parents and four boys between 10-12 years old headed to the big city.
My dad was of the philosophy that “you are late if you’re not early.” And he believed if you paid money to a game, you paid for the whole experience. When the gates opened, we were going to be there. On this occasion, my mom wanted to have us see some Chicago too.
We navigated thru the northside of Chicago with Mom giving instructions as she looked thru a paper, fold up map. When we arrived at Wrigley Field, we were early enough to park across the street in a lot for something like $5.
We locked the car with the direction from Mom, “Remember, this is not Hollandale.” The six of us walked to the L station and road to downtown Chicago. At the age of 10, we could probably have just gone home after the L ride, it was a lot of fun. We got off in the Loop and went to Marshall Fields.
I took 3-4 laps in the revolving door going in- my apologies to the older lady who couldn’t get out and to sprint around with me. Then we road the escalators up several floors and back down. We headed back to Wrigley Field and made it before the gates were opening.
In 1962 I was in awe of the players on the rosters. The starting outfield for the National League was Tommy Davis (LA Dodgers), Willy Mays (SF Giants), and Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh Pirates). The reserve outfielders may have been even more impressive with Frank Robinson (Cincinnati Reds), Hank Aaron (Milwaukee Braves), Billy Williams (Cubs), and Stan Musial (Cards).
The American League outfield had Roger Maris (Yankees), just off his 61 home run season but Mickey Mantle was injured. Here were the position players:
National League
Dick Groat- Pirates SS
Roberto Clemente- Pirates- OF
Frank Robinson- Reds- OF
Willie Mays- Giants- OF
Hank Aaron- Braves- OF
Orlando Cepeda- Giants- 1B
Ernie Banks- Cubs- 1B
Tommy Davis- Dodgers- OF
Stan Musial- Cards- OF
Billy Williams- Cubs-OF
Ken Boyer- Cards- 3B
Eddie Matthews- Braves- 3B
Del Crandall- Braves- C
John Roseboro- Dodgers- C
Bill Mazeroski- Pirates- 2B
Bob Gibson- Cards- P
Johnny Padres- Dodgers- P
American League
Rich Rollins- Twins- 3B
Yogi Berra- Yanks- OF
Bobby Richardson- Yanks- 2B
Roger Maris- Yanks- OF
Rocky Colavito- Indians- OF
Jim Gentile- Indians- 1B
Earl Battey- Twins C
Elston Howard- Yanks- C
Luis Aparicio- Sox- SS
Tom Tresh- Yanks- SS
The people parked next to us were Warren Spahn and his wife, and Eddie Matthews. Nearly 60 years ago, I cannot remember if Matthews was by himself or he had his wife along too. The Spahn’s car was a little nicer than our’s but not a lot, just a family sedan. Mrs. Spahn had also packed some sandwiches which they grabbed and started to eat as they put their equipment in the trunk.
Even without ESPN, we all knew Warren Spahn and Eddie Matthews. We did not get any pictures but I did get both their autographs on my program. Time distorts memory, my brother is convinced the program is his. At some point, I scribbled my name on the program and now possession is 9/10th of the law.
We spent our summers in rural Hollandale, Wisconsin, and drove to Chicago for the All-Star game. It was not lost on us that Eddie Matthews and Warren Spahn had also jumped in their car and drove down from Wisconsin. We paid $5 for a spot to park close to Wrigley Field, and the Spahn’s paid $5 for a spot in the same lot. We ate sandwiches out of our trunk, and they ate sandwiches out of their trunk. A different time and certainly a simpler time.
I circled the bases in our pine lot ball park, dreaming of making the major leagues. That dream never came true, but for one afternoon the stars aligned for a 10 year old to hang out with Eddie Matthews and Warren Spahn.
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