Memories

I have these recurring memories of days gone by.  Those flashes of scenes flickering past me, like flashes out of time. Bob Gibson striking out Mickey Mantle, my mother cheering for the Yankees,and my Cardinals winning in 64'.

I can get them out of my head.

My head is full of memories,Curt Flood diving in Centre Field catching a liner hit off the Tom Tresh.
Gibby mowing them down, one by one.

October baseball, falling leaves, school days run into the Fall Classic, late afternoon World Series games. Coming home to find the game was on, my mother cupping a cigarette watching the Yankees drive in a run off a miscue by Tim McCarver.

Julian Javier line a double into the gap, Mantle collect it and toss it back into the infield, collecting up by Tony Kubek.  Later Tony would go onto call color with Curt Gowdy on the Baseball Game of the Week broadcast by NBC.

My weekly slice of Nirvana, baseball game of the week, Astros versus Dodgers, out there in Los Angeles, way out west. A distant land 3hours time difference,out where Mickey Mouse ruled the coast,where Johny Carson held court.

And it was Saturday again, and the Toronto Star Sports section had a half page of baseball statistics , batting averages from the zenith of Rod Carew down to Zoilo Versailes, through to the depths of mediocrity, all the way down to lowly Pete Geiger , who hit .198.

I would pour over the names, collecting as much info as I could,by osmosis , somehow learning th game by stats.

Back to the 64 ' Series again, CBC was showing high lights of the 5th game ,Yanks won but trailed in the Series.  Orlando Cepeda driving in runs right and left, Lou Brock showing flashes of brilliance in the outfield.

In the end,the Cards were victorious over the Yankees, my mother's team were defeated in 6 games. And Bob Gibson was the pitching star, Ray Washburn, chipping in.

Those Red birds, those red birds, in their white uniforms with red decorative Cardinals astride baseball bat logo.

Gone is my mother, succumbed to the dreaded cancer, but her Yankees are in the Wild card tilt against the Twins, who replaced the Senators in 61.

Aaron Judge is the new Mickey Mantle, socking home runs with regularity, their star slugger, and my Cards,well they did not make it in the National League.


Those memories, came a callin me last night , in a dream, mom sitting up on the couch cupping a cig, creating a waft of smoke that drifted out of the living room.

I can still smell her smoke and I am 61 now, with a wife and two grown children, with mates of their own. I can still make out her stale cigarette smoke trail, wafting through the hallway.

Memories......