Baseball Memories

The Saint Louis Cardinals' win of the 2011 World Series brought back a lot of memories for me.

I had a friend on Facebook ask me why I am a Dallas Cowboys fan and not a Rangers fan. There are two simple reasons:

1) The Tulsa Oilers were the AAA farm team for the Cards until A. Ray Smith took the team and left town in 1977.

2) The Texas Rangers were not until 1972 or there abouts and I had already been a Cardinal fan for 18 years.

I actually worked for A. Ray Smith's Tulsa Oiler baseball club in the early 70's as the scoreboard keeper. I got paid to watch Tulsa Oiler baseball! I was paid $5 for a single game and $7 for a double header. I would listen to Len Morton and Mack Creagor call the game on the radio and took my cues from them as to when to hang a new square metal painted number in R, H, E columns and the Inning boxes.

When an Oiler would hit a homer fireworks would be launched from 3 metal tubes on a level above me in the fence in Center field. I would then have to go up, pour sand and water on the fire started by the sparks on the wooden structure. I am pretty sure the fire-hazard story would have been big on CNN if it had been around in those days. I would then load the pipe with more fireworks and plug it into electricity so someone elsewhere launch them next time they were needed.

At the end of the game it was my responsibility to take down and fold the American flags in Center field, and the two that flew from the roof of the stadium. I would run into to A. Ray Smith from time to time and he would always say hello.

I actually got a shout out from Jose Cruz in Center field before he was called up to the Cardinals. Kind of my claim to fame as lame as it is.

Great memories. But the fantastic September and October comeback of the Cardinals will be a memory and one for the record books for the ages.

Now, let's get Pujols signed and keep him in St. Louis where he belongs.