Al Downing and Bob Meyer…Black & White
May 20th, 2007 · by Bob Meyer · 2 CommentsIn this morning’s Los Angeles Times sports section Al Downing was interviewed for his thoughts on Barry Bonds’ assault of Hank Aaron’s home run record. As you may recall it was Al Downing who surrendered Hank Aaron’s 715th home run, besting the immortal Babe Ruth and the sports world’s most-heralded record. And I found Downing’s comments interesting for a couple of reasons.
First, reading comments by someone you know makes the article more interesting. We played together back in 1961 in the Eastern League. (Back then we were highly-touted left-handers in the New York Yankees venerable farm system.) We also were team mates in 1963 at Richmond in the International League, with the 1964 Yankees, and later on, in 1970, with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Very early on, in spite of competing with each other to get to the Yankees, we had respect for one another’s abilities and character. In my 11 years of playing (1960 through 1970) with hundreds of professional baseball players, I found Al Downing to be one of the classiest and most intelligent players.
In 1961, mid-way through the season, Downing was called up to the Yankees. Today it’s hard to imagine what a big deal this was for the young 21-year old African-American. First of all, the Yankees rarely called up players from the minors during the season. They had a power-house team that routinely played in the fall classic.
They had only two black players on the Yankees, Elston Howard and Hector Lopez. I remember spring training that year, my first spring training with the big club, and our last year in St. Petersburg. (In 1962 the Yankees moved to Fort Lauderdale.) One situation stood out to me, and I’m sure to many others, Howard and Lopez were not able to stay at the team’s hotel. Instead, they spent spring training at a local doctor’s home. By the way, my roommate that spring was Jim Bouton, who had several great years with the Yankees a few years later, and then in 1969 published an inside look at baseball in a book titled, “Ball Four.”
So Al Downing was really a hero in the black community. Which I later learned, when I went back to college at the University of Toledo, from talking to black students and professors. That fall semester one of the courses I took was a sociology class, “Blacks In America Today.”
One of the requirements for the course was a term paper. I asked the professor if I could put together 25 questions and have Al Downing answer them. And I, in the other hand, would write what I thought Downing—from the black perspective—would answer.
Trying to put myself “in his shoes” was really an eye-opener. I remember when the postman delivered his mail…I eagerly tore open his letter, and question after question was answered differently than what I thought Downing’s perspective would be. Obviously we were a world apart in our views. More succinctly, I didn’t have a clue on his point-of-view.
In my next post I’ll share my thoughts on the Barry Bonds situation and we’ll see Downing’s comments on Bonds as well. Are we any closer today, then we were back in 1961 when we were 21-year-old kids?
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May 20th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
MLB is complicit on any performance enhancing drugs Bonds used. MLB is NOT complicit in the in-your-face-ass-hole attitude Bonds (and his father) have always projected. I have followed Barry’s career for a long time. As a kid, I was a two-left-footed, lousy athlete kid who never did well in sports but still loved sports; ok
I grew to idolize Roberto Clemente. I followed him relentlessly and worshiped every swing of his bat, every move and throw from right field, and every complaint he had about the sporting press throughout his career. A recent book I’ve read about him revealed that the local Pittsburgh sports writers finally realized that he always found fault in their writings about him because it fueled him to over perform.
I don’t know if Rick Reichart, the first $200k bonus baby in MLB with the LA Angels was in the organization during your brief stint in LA, but he never lived up to Gene Autry’s expectations and when a very negative article was printed about that very same observation, he went out and hit two homers in a game; fueled by the need to prove the sports writer wrong- much like Clemente! So naturally I kept an eye on those beloved Bucs in Pittsburgh. Then I see this Barry Bonds kid, and I remembered his father.
But MLB continually denied Bonds his coveted fourth MVP award, constantly awarding it to some other, less achieving player who happed to put in a “career best performance” benefited by roids! Bonds knew he had to compete at the current level so he used the same drugs at least 50% of the other roster players were using (some claim it was at least 70%).
So public interest in MLB grew and attendance regained its expected level and then MLB expresses outrage over the practice it condoned whole heartily a few years earlier. Had MLB showed interest in keeping the game pure initially, Bonds would never have found the need to go to that highest level. After all, he is far and above superior in skill, dedication, and motivation than the rest of MLB.
Yes, he needs to go to charm school, he has a lousy attitude and personality. But I look at his abilities and how he has entertained me and the baseball world. He could have easily skated through a fifteen year career with minimal effort, minimal practice. His income would have been lower, but considering the focus he’s put into being possibly the greatest player in history (arguably) I can overlook those short comings. He’s paid to perform and he has done so beyond expectations.
Bonds is a rare person; brought into the game by his father with similar skills (speed and power) but fortunate enough to receive advice from elders like Willie Mays. Willie told him that he had the raw talent to POSSIBLY be the greatest player of all time. But he also told him it would take tremendous focus and dedication. Bonds lived up to that but unfortunately did not focus on or dedicate effort into being human. He never came to understand people like me, the two left footed athlete. He showed contempt and indifference to the public. Bummer.
I look at the entertainment I am receiving. I know Bonds isn’t like Clemente; a compassionate person who used any advantage he had to help the unfortunate. So for Bonds humanitarian side, I have no comment. All Bonds needs is to die in a plane crash so that his achievements might be recognized.
Gary Livesey
May 20th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Gary, Enjoyed your comments. You are a true fan, very passionate about the great game of baseball. Rick Reichart came after I was with the Angels, but I found it interesting that he and Clemente were both motivated by the coverage of sports writers.