Growing up in Evansville, Indiana in the late 40s and early 50s we kids thought the world revolve around the Evansville Braves. They were a professional baseball team in the Three I League. They were the Class B farm club of the Boston Braves. But to us they were bigger than life. They played in a brick baseball park called Bosse Field. It is the ballfield used in the movie “A league of their own” which starred Tom Hanks and Gena Davis.
We didn’t have the money to actually go to the games, but we hung around the park during practices. During breaks the players would come over and talk to us. We were just thrilled. Outside the park on the right field side was a railroad siding. Usually there were a couple of boxcars parked there. We would climb up on them during games and had a great view of the game.
We got the see the starting careers of players like Warren Span, Bob Uecker, and Chuck Tanner. I was sitting on the boxcar when Del Crandall came up to bat for the first time as a professional ball player. He hit a home run. One of the guys sitting there said, “he won’t be here long”, and he wasn’t. In the middle of the season, he was moved up to class A in Hartford Connecticut. After a stellar career he finished as the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers.
I still remember those days.
Tom Humphris
Bill, we had a Three I treat in Springfield, but I don’t remember
The Major League Owner