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Nostalgia and Historical Memory
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13638 |
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BOOK WORLD
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| Issue
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8 / 1988 |
3,761 Words |
| Author
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Lee Congdon
Lee Congdon writes regularly on modern literature. He teaches
eastern European history at James Madison University. |
JOHN McGRAW
Charles C. Alexander
New York: Viking, 1988
358 pp., $19.95
Sometime in the early 1950s, the colorful National League umpire Jocko Conlan toted an unscuffed baseball from ballpark to ballpark. He had promised my father that he would collect as many autographs as the sphere's finite surface would accommodate. As good as his word, he soon presented me with a priceless gift: an official NL baseball signed by such diamond immortals as Stan Musial, Ewell "The Whip" Blackwell, Pee Wee Reese, Johnny Mize, Harry "The Cat" Brecheen, Warren Spahn, and Mel Ott. Ott was, I think, a coach in those days, having retired as a player in 1947. But during his many years as a New York Giant outfielder and third baseman he slammed 511 home runs, a senior circuit (National League) record until Willie Mays, another Giant great, surpassed it in 1966.
In this authoritative biography of John McGraw, Ott's first manager, Charles C. Alexander points out; with more than personal regret, that it was not until the early 1980s that occupants of the San Francisco Giants' front office evinced any interest in the team's proud past. Only then did they think to retire Ott's number, 4, along with those worn by Bill Terry, Carl Hubbell, Mays, Juan Marichal, and Willie McCovey. Plaques bearing the names of these players, and of Christy Mathewson--who never wore a number--were affixed to the outfield fence in windswept Candlestick Park. Later, the Giants proclaimed August 9, 1987, "John McGraw Day," retired his numberless jersey, and added a plaque with his name to the place of honor on the
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