1 of 5 9/14/ :04 AM

Transcription

1 1 f 5 9/14/ :04 AM The Delaware Cunty Daily Times (delctimes.cm), Serving Delaware Cunty, PA Sprts Sunday, Nvember 23, 2008 By Harry Chaykun hchaykun@delctimes.cm CHESTER There were frmer majr-league players and a Negr League all-star in attendance. There were family members and family friends as well as neighbrs frm his hmetwn and the ther twns in which he lived. There als were thse wh cnsidered themselves lucky just t be called his friend. They gathered at Widener University s Lathem Hall Saturday afternn t remember Mickey Vernn, the Marcus Hk native wh died in September at the age f 90. Vernn, tw-time American League batting champin as a member f the Washingtn Senatrs, was remembered in a special prgram entitled Celebrating A Life Well-Lived. Jim Vankski, the frmer Strath Haven High teacher and cach and ex-president f the Delc Baseball League, put the memrial service tgether with the help f Vernn s daughter, Gay, wh lives in Sharn, Mass. After mre than tw hurs f vide clips and persnal remembrances, Gay Vernn cncluded the celebratin by speaking abut her life with her famus father then helped lead the crwd in a seventh-inning stretch, which included a rusing renditin f Take Me Out T The Ball Game. The best things I have and all f yu have are ur memries, she said. My dad didn t teach me hw t live with his wrds. He just lived and I just watched. That was the theme arund which s many f thse wh spke chse t remember Vernn Saturday. The wrds f Branch Rickey, wh helped bring Jackie Rbinsn t the big leagues 60 years ag, ften came t mind: He was just as much a man as he was a ball player, and he was all f bth. One f the first vide clips Vankski shwed had Vernn talking abut playing in Washingtn, D.C. It was a thrill, Vernn said. I gt t meet a lt f presidents wh were big baseball fans and I was ding smething that I wanted t d.

2 2 f 5 9/14/ :04 AM On the vide screen the audience culd see President Jhn F. Kennedy thrw ut the first ball n pening day in Griffith Stadium in Vankski nted that Saturday marked the 45th anniversary f Kennedy s death in Dallas. If Jhn F. Kennedy were still alive this year, he and Mickey wuld have been abut a year apart in age, Vankski said. Hw lucky we were t have had Mickey with us these 45 years since that day the president passed away in Dallas. As the pictures n the screen changed, there was Vernn as a member f the American League s starting infield in the 1955 All-Star Game. Amng his teammates were Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Al Kaline and Nellie Fx, all members f the Baseball Hall f Fame. In less than three weeks, the Veterans Cmmittee will meet t decide whether Vernn will be inducted int the Hall psthumusly next July. Vernn s last seasn as a majr league player was 1960, when he made nine trips t the plate as a pinch-hitter with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had spent that summer as the first-base cach in Pittsburgh under manager Danny Murtaugh, the Chester High graduate wh had been his lng-time friend. During the winter mnths, Vernn and Murtaugh wrked at McGvern s Men s Stre in Chester. One day Mr. McGvern had t run t the bank and Mickey and my dad were the nly nes left in the stre, said Murtaugh s sn, Tim, frmer president f Delaware Cunty Cuncil. An lder gentleman came int the stre and said he wanted t buy a suit, s my dad tld him he had t measure him and made him lay dwn n the flr. My dad s drawing chalk lines arund the man and Mickey s standing there as Mr. McGvern walks in, sees the man and thinks he had a heart attack. Then Patrlman Jhn Taylr, wh later became sheriff, cmes in and he thinks the place is a crime scene because smene was rbbing the stre. Rich Westctt, frmer member f the Daily Times sprts staff and authr f Mickey Vernn, The Gentleman First Baseman, spke f all f Vernn s teammates and cntempraries he spke t in writing his bk. N ne said anything bad abut Mickey, Westctt quted frmer Senatrs pitcher Walt Mastersn as saying. If they d, send them t me and I ll have a few things t say t them. After his bk was published, Westctt and Vernn made a number f appearances tgether. Every time I was in his cmpany it was a wnderful experience, Westctt said. We d g int the Phillies clubhuse and the players wh learned abut Mickey s backgrund were delighted t speak t him and get t knw him. Cle Hamels learned wh Mickey was and was thrilled he had the chance t talk t him. And Jaysn Werth came ver t him and Mickey started talking right away abut hw (Werth s) grandfather, Ducky Schfield, was his teammate in Pittsburgh.

3 3 f 5 9/14/ :04 AM Washingtn Natinals bradcaster Phil Wd talked abut cming t Philadelphia t call a Flyers game against the Washingtn Capitals and spending the afternn visiting Vernn. I gt t his huse at 1 clck, Wd said. The hckey game didn t start until 7:30, but I just abut made it there in time. He had the silver bat he wn fr winning the 1953 batting champinship in a velvet sleeve and tld me t take it dwn and hld it. A week later I get a Christmas card frm Mickey and his wife. I had always been a cllectr f Washingtn Senatrs memrabilia. I was having a hard time finding things that had been Mickey s until I went t a shw and they had ne f his 1955 game jerseys. I asked the guy what he wanted fr it and he tld me he wanted ne f my Ted Williams bats. I was happy t make that trade. Stanley Glenn, wh played mre than 2,000 games in the Negr League, recalled all the places he lived and played. Over the years yu meet a lt f peple, Glenn said. I never met a nicer persn in all my life than Mickey. America has lst ne f its finest persns, his family has lst a father and a friend and all f us have lst a great ball player. Curt Weldn, frmer mayr f Marcus Hk wh spent 20 years as a member f the United States Huse f Representatives, gave the rebuttal after Vankski shwed a vide clip in which Vernn spke abut ne f his teachers at Villanva calling Marcus Hk the last place Gd built. We always talked abut hw there were tw kinds f peple in this wrld, Weldn said. Thse wh were frm Marcus Hk and thse wh wished they were. Weldn spke f the humility and caring that were Mickey Vernn s hallmarks. I gt t g frm Marcus Hk t the Huse, Weldn said. Mickey went frm The Hk t becme a Senatr. James Vernn Firth was Vernn s great-nephew. I thank my parents fr naming me after such a great man, he said. He was s much f an inspiratin t s many peple. Gd gave him the gift f being a ball player and he gave us the gift f Mickey Vernn. Je Chubby Imburgia, a neighbr f Vernn s in Marcus Hk, tld f the day he and a friend, wh were teenagers, hitch-hiked t Washingtn, D.C. t see Vernn play in

4 4 f 5 9/14/ :04 AM a dubleheader against the New Yrk Yankees. He tld us t cme ver t see him between games and we ended up meeting Je DiMaggi and shaking hands with him, Imburgia said. Chuck Taylr f Astn, anther friend f the Vernn family, recalled the stry f hw Mickey was lking fr an apartment in Washingtn. He fund ne that t him was just right, Taylr said. That was because f hw clse it was lcated t an ice cream stre. The place was rented befre he culd get it, but he met smene wh lived right near it wh let Mickey and his wife live with him. A cuple weeks later the man sees Mickey and shws him the paper with his picture in it after Mickey gt a hit t win a game. Mickey had lived with him all that time and he never said a wrd t him abut playing fr the Senatrs. Taylr als tld abut hw entertainer Harry James invited Mickey t a shw after a game in New Yrk and tld Mickey he wanted him t sit with his wife, actress Betty Grable. I dn t trust these guys, but I trust yu, James said. Taylr als discussed the stry f the night the Drsey Brthers were perfrming at the El Ranch Club, which was lcated where Widener University s Schwartz Center was built. They were great baseball fans, Taylr said. When they learned Mickey Vernn lived near where they were appearing, they said they had t meet him. Hurs later they get a call telling them t get t the El Ranch because they were hlding up the start f the shw and they said t start withut them because they culdn t leave Mickey. After the ceremnies had ended, frmer Delc League manager Phil Damiani mentined hw impressed he was that Vankski had put tgether smething s special n such a grand scale. I thught he culdn t utd himself after what he did with the Delc League s 100th anniversary dinner, Damiani said, nting that he hped Vankski wuld have the chance t rganize a trip t Cperstwn, N.Y. next July t help the peple f Marcus Hk and Delaware Cunty celebrate Vernn s inductin int the Baseball Hall f Fame. URL:

5 5 f 5 9/14/ :04 AM 2009 delctimes.cm, a Jurnal Register Prperty