When Big J was a boy, Papa and Perky gave him a weekly allowance of 25 cents. He started his Brae Springs Train Fare Fund with that money, and over a period of several years, he saved up the $17 or $20 necessary to purchase a train ticket from Columbia, South Carolina to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to visit your great, great grandparents, Lee Leslie MacLellan (Dad Mac) and Irma Baker MacLellan (Mom Mac) at their home in Bethlehem, PA. (I met Mom Mac several times when I was very young. I called her Mom-mom.) When Big J was 9, he purchased the ticket, Perky and Papa put him on a train in Columbia, and he made the trip up the East Coast all by himself. At a changeover in Richmond Perky's sister, Aunt Sally, met him for a hug and a snack. Then Dad Mac picked up Big J in Philadelphia when he arrived and drove him back to Bethlehem to their home, Brae Springs.
That week, Dad Mac and Mom-mom paraded their first grandson all over town. Big J went to work with Dad Mac. He and and his brother, Uncle Alden, owned Plymouth car dealerships in Bethlehem and Allentown. They visited the Bethlehem Steel Company farm, the owners of which were Dad Mac's and Mom-mom's good friends, to see their champion Labrador Retrievers straight from Scotland--one of the original Lab bloodlines to come to the United States. They frequented the storied Saucon Valley Country Club where Dad Mac and Mom-mom golfed and socialized with Pennsylvania's educated elite. And Dad Mac took Big J to his first professional baseball game in Philadelphia to see the Phillies and the Chicago Cubs.
The game was at Connie Mack Stadium (formerly Shibe Park), by that time a decrepit old place. Big J called it a "barn," even though when it was built in 1909 it had been America's first concrete and steel stadium. He said he sat behind a post because "there weren't many seats in Connie Mack that weren't behind posts. You were lucky if you didn't get a splinter in your ass, too! [from the weathered wooden benches]" That ballpark witnessed 7 World Series and 2 All-Star Games and was the site of the first night game in the history of professional baseball. Your Dad Mac and Big J watched the great Philly pitcher, Robin Roberts, defeat the Cubs 3-1. The only run he allowed was a solo home run off the bat of Cub-great, Hall of Famer, Ernie Banks. Your grandfather said he left the stadium "thrilled cause our team had won."
#36 Robin Roberts. 6-00, 190. Throws right. Switch hitter. The Phillies' greatest right-handed pitcher ever. In his 19 year, Hall of Fame career, he won 287 games and had an ERA of 3.41. The game's toughest pitcher for most of the 50's, he had 6 consecutive 20 win seasons. He worked with a great fastball and incredible control. He challenged hitters, keeping the ball over the plate, so he gave up some runs. Roberts claimed that he never slept after a loss. He'd watch the sunrise, the pitches, hits, and runs playing out over and over in his mind. Critics say he hung on a little too long. The end of the career was rough. Several seasons of lack-luster ball hurt his stats, but there aren't many folks around who don't believe he was one of the great right-handed pitchers of all-time. Big J is convinced.
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