Transcript:
Ambient; sounds of a baseball game; Ambient fading out
Bill Thompson: I’m Bill Thompson and I’m seventy three years old. Today we’re going to discuss some things about my experiences and career in baseball, a game I’ve loved since I was a child. I started my career as a catcher. To me it’s the most exciting and best position on the field; you’re the only one who gets to see what’s happening out there.
I was very fortunate in high school to catch a pitcher that was extremely fast. His name was George Brady, and George would strike out fifteen-sixteen people in a game was not unusual at all. The only problem about it is my hand would swell up about twice the size of the ball glove. George had threw so hard and into the nineties that my hand would begin to swell under the glove.
I had a coach named Tubby Wilson and Tubby was very instrumental in developing my career. He was an excellent coach as well as a referee, and an umpire, so he understood the game and was able to translate it or pass it onto me.
When I was a junior in high school a scout from the Cleveland Indians asked George, the pitcher, and myself to meet with him in Dayton at a hotel. We had the opportunity to sign a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians after we graduated from high school. Father would rather I would go to college, play college ball, then possibly if I was good enough play professional. So I did not sign the contract for minor league baseball.
I was a catcher for three seasons at the University of Dayton. My sophomore year I tore a cartilage in my knee and it’s probably one of the most serious injuries you could have being a catcher. And the word got back to the Indians and they pretty much said “Don’t call us, we’ll call you”.
My next experience then, after college ball, was playing in the Western Ohio League. It was a semi-pro league and we played all over western Ohio and we had maybe 10 different teams that made up the league. We would play two games a week, one during the week and one on Sunday. The interesting part about it was most of the ball fields were connected to church property. And so after mass or after church people would bring their picnic baskets out and watch the ball game. Most of these people were farmers, and after the game they would invite us to their home for some of the greatest meals I’ve ever had in my life. As far as pay, we got mileage and we got paid for that day of play. Pay rate at that time, I think we got twenty-five dollars a game and something like six cents a mile for driving. So you know a big day would be like thirty five bucks, *chuckles* , and this would be back in the late fifties, middle fifties to late fifties. Usually played about thirty, thirty-five games a summer.
We played Minster, played Fort Loramie, Troy and Sidney. We played some southern teams in Hamilton, couple teams put of Cincinnati. And another club we would play, home and home with was Bugle Park Jockey Club in Columbus. We also played some teams in Kentucky, down in Maysville and Steubenville. I would never take any of those years back.
What I learned from baseball, the sportsmanship and being able to handle a loss, handle the injury to my knee. It all made me a better person and hopefully a better individual.
Interviewed by Robin Brandewie
No comments:
Post a Comment