I’ve been thinking lately. Actually, I’ve been reminiscing a lot lately. Maybe because I’m in my 50’s and I’m a grandparent, but whatever the reason, I’ve spent a lot of time looking back on my life.
Baseball has been a huge part of my life since I was a kid. Until the pandemic shutdown minor league baseball a couple years ago, I had worked in some capacity or another for a minor league baseball team for 42 consecutive seasons. That included many different jobs, I’ve written about before, such as; bat boy, mascot, official scorer, and for 27 of those years I did double-duty as the Baseball Chapel coordinator for those minor league teams.
Working in professional baseball has given me some great memories that I’ve been reflecting on lately. Some players that I met when I was a bat boy, I’m still in contact with today. Because of my association with the Montreal Expos, working for their Single-A team in Jamestown, NY, for 11 years, I was able to go to three games in Montreal, at the team’s invite and to Spring Training for a few days in 1985. I also got to see the Expos play on the road many times over the years.
Every time I walked into the Expos clubhouse, whether it was in Montreal, Pittsburgh, West Palm Beach, or wherever, I would be greeted by several players that I knew from their days in the minors. It made me feel like I was a part of the team. I remember some players introducing themselves to me, just because I was a guest of the Expos, and because I knew other players.
I remember one time, I was in the clubhouse in Pittsburgh on a Sunday, chatting with Tim Burke, and he asked me, “Are you going to chapel?” I said, “I didn’t know if I was allowed.”
As soon as I said that, Wallace Johnson, one of my buddies from my bat boy days, came up behind me, gave me a big bear hug, and said, “Come on Jeff, we’re going to chapel.” So, I got to attend my first Major League chapel.
One time when Montreal’s general manager, Bill Stoneman, came to visit our team in Jamestown, he got to watch me perform as the mascot, “Yippee!” Afterward, he paid me a huge compliment, saying “You do a great job. You’re very funny.” After that, Montreal started letting “Youppi!” come to Jamestown each year to perform at a game with me. That was a blast.
After I moved to Tulsa in November 1988, I was asked if I wanted to take over Baseball Chapel for the Drillers the following season, and I agreed to do so. From there, my relationship with the Drillers has grown over the years, and not only did I do chapel for the next 18 seasons, but I also did other odd jobs in the press box, like official scorer or pitch clock operator, I’ve filled in on the P.A. announcing and I’ve filled in on the radio broadcast.
I went to a Texas Rangers – Detroit Tigers game in 1994, and before the game, I went into the Tigers clubhouse to talk to Tony Phillips, who I knew from his time in Jamestown (1978). Phillips was one of the nicest players on the team and always tipped me well for cleaning and shining his spikes. He remembered me that day in Texas and told me to come back after the game so we could spend more time getting caught up. After the game, I had one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Before he had showered, Phillips invited me to join him on a couch and chat. While we were sitting there watching the MLB highlights on ESPN, Cecil Fielder was sitting on the adjacent couch. Eventually, while I was sitting there with Phillips, the highlights of the game came on and there was the video of Fielder hitting a home run, that I had just witnessed an hour earlier, and now I was sitting there watching the highlight with him. That was surreal.
Recently, I saw Oddibe McDowell at a game in Texas. I wrote about that a few weeks ago, but again, it was a great time to reminisce. I hadn’t seen Oddibe in over 20 years, but he still remembered me. We created a bond and a friendship when he was playing for the Drillers. My wife and I even sat with his wife at the games. I was looking in my address book recently for my sister-in-law’s address, and there in the “M’s” was an entry for Oddibe and Sylvia McDowell and their home phone number. It’s sad that we didn’t keep in touch over the years, but that’s what happens.
Baseball has afforded me so many other great memories, like going to my first MLB game with my father, sneaking in to College Stadium through a hole in the chain link fence to watch the Jamestown Falcons (Expos) in the early 1970s, umpiring in several CABA and USSSA World Series right here in Broken Arrow and Bixby, and the numerous friendships that were made with players, coaches, managers and scouts over the years.
It’s been a good life. Baseball’s been very, very good to me.