Hotel Red Hook

[George C]

1 hour ago, AF-1 said:

George C;  I have a scrapbook from my trips to the ballpark.  I went from 61-63.   Also my high school played the halftime show for the NY Giants when they shared Yankee Stadium.  Played the 65 World Fair in Queens too.  Those were some great memories.  I grew up in Jersey. 

I lived about a 30 min bus ride from Flushing where the 64/65 world fair was and went a lot . 
 

I also had a Rawlings Mickey Mantle glove that my mom got with green stamps . My dad took me to one of the first bat days and I got a Mickey Mantle bat. Two of the best presents my wife got me was a Mickey Mantle signed baseball and a Mickey Mantle signed sports illustrated plaque.

[George C]

3 hours ago, njhorseman said:

 

Spent many an afternoon in Yankee Stadium watching "The Mick." My first baseball glove was a Rawlings Mickey Mantle model. Tried to imitate his batting stance...even tried to switch hit, but I couldn't even hit very well on my natural side, right handed.

 

I have to say though that my most interesting and unusual childhood baseball experience came at a Dodgers-Giants game at the Polo Grounds that my father had taken me to in 1955. As improbable as it may seem, Jackie Robinson hit into a triple play that day.

Billy Cristal had a great one man show on broadway that I also saw in Dallas called 700 Sunday’s , he talks a lot about worshiping Mickey and also trying to hit like him, they also filmed it for hbo. He sold baseball’s that he autographed in the lobby. He along with Bob Costa did Mickey’s eulogy when he passed away in Dallas . 

[AF-1]

George C.  Great story,  NJHorseman,  you have some great memories too.  Have either one of you been to Oklahoma City where there is a bronze statue of Mickey outside the minor league ball park?  I have been there several times in my business travels.  Great tribute to him 

[njhorseman]

53 minutes ago, George C said:

Billy Cristal had a great one man show on broadway that I also saw in Dallas called 700 Sunday’s , he talks a lot about worshiping Mickey and also trying to hit like him, they also filmed it for hbo. He sold baseball’s that he autographed in the lobby. He along with Bob Costa did Mickey’s eulogy when he passed away in Dallas . 

I saw the HBO version of the show. 

I was driving on the Garden State Parkway headed for Cape May when the news of Mantle's death came over the radio.

It's interesting how clearly  I can remember where I was when I learned of something tragic happening. I remember being in my college freshman year physics lab class when the professor announced JFK's assassination, driving on the GSP when Mantle died, and in the midst of getting a haircut when the airplanes were flown into the WTC on 9/11/01 .

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by njhorseman

[AF-1]

Those were some historic events to remember.  Thanks for sharing

[George C]

6 hours ago, AF-1 said:

George C.  Great story,  NJHorseman,  you have some great memories too.  Have either one of you been to Oklahoma City where there is a bronze statue of Mickey outside the minor league ball park?  I have been there several times in my business travels.  Great tribute to him 

There is also a Mickey Mantle restaurant in OKC been wanting t visit but haven’t yet. Winstar casino which is the largest casino in the world in Oklahoma just a hour from us has a really nice Mickey Mantle restaurant and bar that we have eaten in many times. I was sad that Mickey Mantle restaurant and bar on Central Park south closed in NYC been there many times . As we all know Mickey had a drinking problem, a well know radio person worked for a bar in Dallas when she was young and said Mickey last dink was always creame de mint so his breath didn’t smell like booze if he got stopped. 

[njhorseman]

12 hours ago, AF-1 said:

George C.  Great story,  NJHorseman,  you have some great memories too.  Have either one of you been to Oklahoma City where there is a bronze statue of Mickey outside the minor league ball park?  I have been there several times in my business travels.  Great tribute to him 

I've never been to OKC.

[AF-1]

7 hours ago, George C said:

There is also a Mickey Mantle restaurant in OKC been wanting t visit but haven’t yet. Winstar casino which is the largest casino in the world in Oklahoma just a hour from us has a really nice Mickey Mantle restaurant and bar that we have eaten in many times. I was sad that Mickey Mantle restaurant and bar on Central Park south closed in NYC been there many times . As we all know Mickey had a drinking problem, a well know radio person worked for a bar in Dallas when she was young and said Mickey last dink was always creame de mint so his breath didn’t smell like booze if he got stopped. 

Mickey's Steakhouse is located across the street from the baseball stadium.  The area is called Bricktown.  Thee are many restaurants and bars there

[markeb]

8 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Mickey's Steakhouse is located across the street from the baseball stadium.  The area is called Bricktown.  Thee are many restaurants and bars there

 

The ballpark in OKC is one of the nicest minor league parks I've been to. I cold swear I have pictures in front of the park with that statue, but I can't find them. There's also a statue of another native, Johnny Bench, who you might have heard of 😀!

 

Never ate at the steakhouse either; there is (or at least was, who knows...) great brewpub not far from the park, and you could get $15 tickets behind the plate, and beer was less than $5.00. Try that in MLB...

[njhorseman]

3 hours ago, markeb said:

you could get $15 tickets behind the plate, and beer was less than $5.00. Try that in MLB...

We were minor league season ticket holders for nearly 20 years and that type of pricing is common everywhere in the minors I know of. We paid a net of about $9 per ticket per game after the season ticket holder discount to sit in the third row directly behind home plate. We also paid about $2 per game for preferred parking as season ticket holders, got vouchers for free and discounted food and merchandise and got to meet the players and coaches at a preseason dinner. It was a pretty sweet deal and we would still be doing it had the pandemic not caused the cancellation of the 2020 minor league season, followed by the Yankees taking the AA franchise away from our team when the minors got reorganized this winter.

[George C]

We had a water heater brake several weeks ago and now getting new wood floors so house is a mess and they disconnected our dish so no t v. So last night we watched videos of our European cruise exactly 20 years ago on a then brand new Renaissance ship. In one of there bars was a large picture of Mickey. 

[lenquixote66]

On 2/28/2021 at 4:05 PM, AF-1 said:

George C.  Great story,  NJHorseman,  you have some great memories too.  Have either one of you been to Oklahoma City where there is a bronze statue of Mickey outside the minor league ball park?  I have been there several times in my business travels.  Great tribute to him 

A friend of mine,Frank Tepedino played for the Yankees from 1967 to 1972

That was the only time I rooted for them.I grew up 5 blocks from Ebbets Field and rooted for the Dodgers from 1953 till 1962 and then became a METS fan.

I have been to Oklahoma City.One of my childhood friends relocated from Brooklyn to Tulsa but he never mentioned the statue .

[lenquixote66]

On 2/28/2021 at 4:42 PM, njhorseman said:

I saw the HBO version of the show. 

I was driving on the Garden State Parkway headed for Cape May when the news of Mantle's death came over the radio.

It's interesting how clearly  I can remember where I was when I learned of something tragic happening. I remember being in my college freshman year physics lab class when the professor announced JFK's assassination, driving on the GSP when Mantle died, and in the midst of getting a haircut when the airplanes were flown into the WTC on 9/11/01 .

 

When JFK was assassinated I was also in a class in college when a Professor came into the room I was in and literally screamed.I had a job interview scheduled for 9 AM at Two World Trade Center on 9/11/01 and was upset that it had been rescheduled.My friend Howard who arranged the interview died that day .