I have loved baseball for almost as long as I can remember. There was a time that I had no clue about the game and I could have cared less. That all changed when my fifth grade teacher (who really intimidated me) basically embarrassed me on a daily basis starkly pointing out my lack of knowledge and understanding of the game in front of the boys in my class by pummeling me daily with questions I couldn’t answer. I was one of those kids that normally became emotionally crushed when ridiculed in front of her peers. I wanted the humiliation to end and the only way I knew was to learn – to be able to answer Mr. Gearty’s incessant baseball questions.
And learn I did, until the game became one of my greatest passions. Lucky for me, the Red Sox had a magical season that year. After 1967 I attended day games at Fenway Park regularly, sitting in the bleachers and scoring from the first pitch to the last. I normally sat in the same general admission spot and was lucky that, after a while, many of the pitchers knew I would be there and would say hello. I was occasionally sent on an errand or two to buy a fudgesicle for one of the guys.
I was mesmerized by the game. I loved going alone, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells all around me. Sometimes a friend would join me, but not often. And that was just fine by me. I even had a few adventures – like in 1969 when I boarded the Detroit Tigers bus with hall of famer Al Kaline looking for catcher Bill Freehan of the Tigers who I loved to watch. When I look back I realize how nuts that was. But, at the time, I was so innocent and had no clue that it was really something very out of the ordinary.
For several years in the 70’s I enjoyed watching Dwight “Dewey” Evans and he became my favorite player. Dewey was another gentleman who was just magic in right field. He was not a bad hitter either. He had two sons afflicted with elephant man’s disease. His son Tim suffered from large growths all over his face and was constantly having surgeries. I dont think his son Justin had it as bad but I remember him having growths on his spine. Now having a handicapped child or a child with a significant illness must be difficult for any person but for an elite athlete it has to be particularly tough. And he had two sons that endured surgery after surgery. Dewey always seemed to be such an incredible dad, so supportive and loving of his sons. How he was able to excel in his career with all the worries at home is pretty amazing. As far as I know he is still married to the same person. Although he never made a big deal of it, he was extremely supportive of neurofibromatosis.
Dewey played with the Sox for a long time and that was really cool. In the 80’s and 90’s the focus of my life changed. I was a mom and baseball took a back seat to my passion for my family. I still loved the Sox but really did not have time to watch many games any longer. Around 2002 I started watching again in earnest and was rewarded with the incredible World Series Championship in 2004. It was the culmination of so many years of excitement and heartache.
How lucky I have been to be a Boston fan. Although fifth grade was hard, learning about baseball was a victory for me and I suddenly felt proud of my knowledge of the game. So I guess I owe it all to Mr. Gearty. By sixth grade he knew he had created a monster and he was the one who taught me how to score the games. I went to see him often after school just to talk about the game. It made me happy and it also made me pretty popular around the sixth grade boys!
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