I lived in Old Greenwich, CT until I was 10 years old and the first team I ever rooted for was the NY Yankees, starting in '65.
Back then, they were awful, but they did go 82-80 that year and Mel won 20 games. I still clearly remember the sunny day when I first entered Yankee Stadium 52 years ago and the rush I felt. We didn't care that the team finished 6th that season, I was just happy to be there with my father and my brother.
We probably went to 3-4 games every season. We would always go to my grandmother's Italian restaurant in the Bronx after the game and it was always a wonderful day.
During one game, we realized that we were sitting next to the Yankees' wives and started asking them to sign our programs. I got autographs from Mrs. Kubek, Tresh, Hamilton, Clarke and Stottlemyre and asked them lots of questions, the way seven year-old kids do. I even remember asking them if they washed their husbands' uniforms--important stuff.
After the games, we would run down to where the players parked their cars. I remember seeing Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and Joe Pepitone up close, although we were never able to get their autographs. The parking area was fenced in and a lot of kids stood there yelling out to the players and every once in a while one of them would come over and sign, but most of them jumped in their cars (usually after a loss) and got out of there.
But, when Mel and his wife walked up to their cars that day, Mrs. Stottlemyre saw us and came over with her husband. "These are the boys who got my autograph," she told her husband, who chuckled.
We threw our programs over the fence and Mel signed them for us, right next to his wife's signature and spent a few minutes talking to us. The other kids looked at us like we were something, because he talked to us and gave us his autograph. It was a thrill for us, because we got to chat with a real major leaguer, something we could talk about at school for the next couple of weeks.
Rest in peace, Mel Stottlemyre and thanks for the great memory.
