This is a picture of the Cardinal Man, my pops..."Bud" Wells, and a Cardinal Fan, Sir Hook of Warrick. This picture was taken right after Albert Pujois sent one over the fence during the first home stand of the new Busch Stadium. Dad would die a happy man about a month later.
Today, two years after this picture was taken, I make one of many pilgrimages to Busch Stadium for the summer. It's the Cardinals and the Cubs today, always a good day for baseball, beer and fun! I placed a brick in the new Stan Musial Plaza outside the stadium to honor my father. He was drafted by the Cardinals as a pitcher in 1946 after pitching for the Navy team during WWII, and played with Stan the Man. So as you can see, I came by my love of the Cardinals honestly and biologically. The Plaza was just completed before the season started, so I get to hunt for the "Bud Brick" before the game.
I never could throw a fastball as hard as my dad, even when he was 49 and I was 19 on the State Champion team; however, that's the only pitch he had so his time in the show was limited. I still remember as a kid all the great Cardinal players joking with the "Old Man" who had, and I quote them, "A million dollar arm and a ten cent brain." I like to think that the gene pool was corrected by my mother and I'm the one with a 10 cent arm and a million dollar brain; however, I've yet to count my first cool million.
Oh hell, that's what dreams are for, and besides, don't we all love to live vicariously through our heroes. My dad was one of them. That's why I like the movie Field of Dreams. I'd love to walk through a corn field and play a little ball with my dad and the past Cardinal greats. That, with a cold beer, a mile long non-fat hot dog and a bounty of cute bat girls would make for a beautiful heaven.
Play Ball!
Sir Hook I Played a Mean 2nd Base of Warrick
"Bud" and a Bud.
ReplyDeleteAwesome story from the town of The Great American Lager.
Good you didn't need a Field of Dreams to get connected with your father. A note to all those who have theirs: Enjoy each pitch; the game goes by too quickly!
Sir Bowie of Greenbriar
Great Blog.
ReplyDeleteYour dad sounded like a great guy.
I worked with my father on his garden today. (Brits are big on their gardens, you know, lots of vegatables and flowers.) I do it with him this time of year, as there is a big growth spurt, and so much more to clear out and plant and till.
I also get to reconnect with the fact that getting deep down face to face with nature, beetles and worms is one of life's great spiritual touchstones, and probably as close to useful enlightenment as you can get on this earth.
I sometimes think that some of these great religious leaders and fundamentalists ought to get out of their gold fringed robes and books and do a bit of digging and weeding, then maybe a bit more commonsense might prevail..
okay, garden done, now i ache. Time for a beer.
Sir Dayvd 'The Dali Farmer' of
Oxfordshire