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The Moth
Marie Hershkowitz & Matthew McGough: Baseball Stories
00:26:10
The Moth goes to the ballpark! This week as the weather starts to get colder and the baseball playoffs begin, we have the story of a young girl who falls in love with the New York Mets and a young Yankees fan lands a job as batboy.
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- [00:00]
Sarah Austin Janess
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- [03:03]
Dan Kennedy
Welcome to the Moth Podcast. I'm Dan Kennedy and today we left the Moth offices. We're out here at Citi Field in Queens, New York. This week on the podcast, we have two stories about baseball. So Moth podcast producer Whitney Jones had a great idea and he said, what if we just go record the podcast this week out at the stadium while the Mets play? Which I suppose is a pretty good idea. I'm finding out that I'm massively just emotionally moved by this game somehow. And that's interesting because I have scant idea of what's going on or what's at stake. I know how to play the game, but I don't really know what's happening in terms of, you know, if the team loses this, what happens, or if they win this, what happens. But this is what Whitney's explained to me, that basically, for the first time since 2006, both the Yankees and possibly more surprisingly, I understand the Mets are going to the playoffs. So we thought we'd bring you this episode of Baseball Stories. And the first one is from our special showcase that we did as part of the Moth community program. Here's Marie Hershkowitz with her story.
- [04:28]
Marie Hershkowitz
It's the summer of 1965, the one right before junior high school. My parents are hard workers. That's what they did. They worked. Vacation was not a word in our family dictionary. So here I am, bored to death, just wishing for school to start already so I'd have something to do. So then one day I turn on the television set and I find the New York Mets. Now, I don't know much about baseball at that point, but I decided I have nothing else better to do, so I might as well watch. So I watched the game and I realized that this is simple. I can follow this. There's nine players, nine innings. They come up in the same order all of the time. And with my Mets, it's three up, three down, very easy. I caught on quick. I caught on quick. And by the end of the game, I understood baseball. I knew all the players names and I was hooked. So now my sister and I start watching all the televised games. And my parents actually managed to take us to a couple of games over that summer of 65. By the summer of 66, my sister and I are taking the hour and a half long trek out to Shea Stadium on the trains by ourselves. And we're going to as many games as my father could get tickets to. Not realizing that it's easy to get tickets because the Mets are so lousy, nobody else wants to watch them play. So in the meantime we don't care if they win or they lose. We don't care how good or bad they are. We don't even know that they're terrible. But we're Mets fans and we're happy. And then the season ends and we're sad. And it takes until 1967 when I'm there with my parents watching the World Series that I realize if my team was good, if they could actually get into first place, win the National League, my season wouldn't have to end because they could go to the World Series. So I asked my dad, when the Mets get into the World Series, will you take us? And he says sure. Well then 68 comes, we go to lots more games, we're Happy campers and 68 World Series comes along and of course the Mets are not in it. And we ask our dad, when the Mets get into the World Series, will you take us? And he says sure. And of course my father knows the Mets finished last in 1968 and no one in the baseball world, or in fact anybody in their right mind, would ever expect that he was going to have to make do on a promise like this anytime soon, if ever. Well now, if you're a Mets fan of a certain age, you know what happened in 1969. Straight from the cellar, ninth place, last place, nine out of nine. They shot right up to first place in 1969 and actually won the National League pennant and went into the World Series against the hard hitting Baltimore Orioles. So here we are, they're back from Baltimore having won and lost one. So they were even, even coming into New York to Shea stadium for Games 3, 4 and 5 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, even 1:1. So Monday I don't see any Mets tickets. So I'm hearing on the radio that they're hard to get, they're costing hundreds of dollars. It's going to be record breaking crowd, standing room only. And I'm worried. So I asked dad, are we going to the World Series? And he says, don't worry about it. So Tuesday comes, Tuesday goes, we don't go to the game, but the Mets managed to win. So now they're going into Wednesday to game Three, no to game four, leading two games to one. So of course, that night we're asking dad, are we going to the World Series? He says, don't worry about it. Well, now I'm worried because, you know, there's only two games left here in New York. And even if they're either going to win them both and they're going to win it here at home, or they're going to go back to Baltimore and play the last two, but either way, there's only two games for me to watch, for me to get a chance to go and share this with them. So anyway, Wednesday comes, we again watch them win on tv. They manage to win without us. Wednesday night, I'm asking, there I am asking dad again, like a broken record, are we going to the World Series? And he says, don't worry about it. So here it is, Thursday afternoon, the day when they can win it all. And we're home, so we're getting ready. I'm resigned now to watch this game on tv. And all of a sudden my mother comes into the kitchen with two tickets in this hand and the car keys in the other. So now I am overjoyed and panic stricken because I look at the clock and I see there's no way, even if my mother drives us to the train, there's no way that we are going to make it to this game for the start of the game. So the next thing I know, we're in the car, and before I realize it, we're not going in the direction of the train. We're going the opposite way. And I'm understanding that my mother, this woman who has never driven out of the neighborhood, intends to take us to the ballpark. Well, I don't know how we got there, but it was in record time. And my very next memory is of my mother arguing with the parking lot attendant because they want her to pay the fee and she's refusing to pay. And this is going back and forth in the meantime, I'm getting more and more nervous, and all the cars behind me would be perfectly happy to pay their fee and get into this ballpark in time to watch this great game of the century. And this is getting the attention now of a police officer. So he comes on over and he wants to know what's the hold up. The attendant tells him this woman won't pay. So he says, lady, you better have a good reason. So she says, there's three of us, only two tickets. I'm not staying. I'm just dropping them off. Lady, you're crazy. What are you, nuts? I'd never let my kids go when I had the chance to go to a game like this. But he felt so sorry for her and so impressed that she was doing this for her that he waved her on in for free and even told her how to get back on the parkway. So she rushes us to the nearest gate. We run in, we have to stop for the National Anthem, but we're this close. We're this close to our seats, and we actually manage to slip on in there as the first pitch is being thrown. Well, the rest is history. You all know what happened. The Mets won the World Series. They became world champs. And I was there. Best sports moment ever for me. Still to this day, all these years later, best moment ever. So now here I am at the end of the game, I'm on the 7 train coming home with all these jubilant Met fans screaming and yelling. I'm holding on, it's for dear life. And I'm clutching my souvenir right field grass close to my heart. And I'm thinking, how on earth did my father come up with these tickets? And what on earth did my mother think and when did she get these tickets? And what was she thinking that she couldn't go? And what gave her the strength to think that she could drive us there? Right? So I'm sitting. Now, I'm a smart kid. I know what parents are all about. I know they're supposed to keep you safe, they're supposed to provide you the basics. They're supposed to teach you right from wrong and maybe give you a little encouragement now and then. But when I'm standing there, it occurs to me that parenting is more than that. It's about keeping promises and about self sacrifice. And I'm thinking to myself right then and there that if I'm ever blessed to have children of my own, that I want to be the kind of parent that my parents were that day.
- [12:30]
Dan Kennedy
Marie Hershkowitz has been a devoted but long suffering Mets fan for 50 years. She's the proud mother of two daughters who are also avid baseball fans. One a Mets fan, the other a Yankees fan. And she says to give her a break, she's batting.500 and no ball player, not even baseball's best hitter, Ty Cobb, with a lifetime average of.366, ever did that. You know what it is? It's the humanity. Like in the crowd, you see people doing stuff, especially New Yorkers, that you don't see them doing every day on the subway or Something you see people, like, talking to each other about what they're going to scream in unison when this guy gets up to the plate or that guy. I'm included in none of this usually because I'm just the guy in the hoodie sitting by himself, going, so moving to be here. And then there was this girl sitting in front of us here who at one point looked up at her dad and she said, you're so happy. Look at you. This is why storytelling podcast people shouldn't be at sporting events, I guess, because I'm just looking around, seeing people like, leave it to the moth, really, to find the heartfelt weepiness of a baseball game. So for our second baseball story, we have an old moth classic. This is by Matthew McGough. This is from a show that we did here in New York city back in 2003. Here's Matthew.
- [14:01]
Matthew McGough
I grew up a huge fan of, of the New York Yankees, which when I was very small, involved going to games maybe once a year with my father, my little brother watching Reggie Jackson and a little bit older watching Dave Winfield. And then when I kind of came into my teens, Dom Mattingly, who was my absolute favorite player. And as I went to high school in New York, and it was kind of a turning point, the first time that I went to Yankee game by myself, and I started going to Yankee games. And it was at one of these games in the fall of 1991, that I went up to the stadium, bought a ticket to the bleachers, and went and sat in the bleachers and was watching the game and noticed for the first time something that I'd been to the stadium so many times before, but I'd never seen this kid in right field wearing a Yankee uniform, who was a bat boy playing catch with the right fielder. And I'd never noticed the bat boy before. And this kid could not play catch for his life. He was throwing the ball over Jesse Barfield's head, the right fielder, and he was one hopping him. And I was like, you know, I'm not a great athlete, but I can play catch at least as well as this kid can. And I don't understand why he has that job. And I couldn't. So I went home that night and I tore a page out of the program that listed all the different Yankee executives. And I wrote a handwritten letter to everyone from Steinbrenner on down to Stunt Merrill, who is the manager at that point, and basically said, you know, my name is Matt and I'm 16 years old, and I'M a huge fan of the Yankees and, you know, I don't know if you can apply for this bad boy position, but if you can, I really would like an application. And I'm so excited to hear from you that if I don't hear from you soon, I'm going to follow up with a phone call. So sent these off and about two weeks went by, and after two weeks, I hadn't heard anything. And so I picked up the phone and the Yankee switchboard number was on the same list of executives and secretary answered the phone, hello, New York Yankees. And I said, hi, this is Matt McGough. And I sent a letter in a couple weeks ago about applying for a bad boy position. And nobody got back to me. So she's like, okay, well, take your name down and I'll have somebody get back to you. And she took my number down and another week goes by and I don't hear anything. So I pick up the phone again and I call. And this woman answers the phone. Hello, New York Yankees. And I say, hi, this is Matt. I sent some letters in about the bad boy position. And I called last week and somebody was supposed to call me back, but I thought it was kind of rude that they hadn't. And so she laughed and she asked me, how old are you? And I said, 16. And she laughed some more and I didn't really understand what she was laughing at, but she took down my name again. She said, I'll make sure that somebody gets back to you. So a few days later, sure enough, in the mail, a letter arrived on Yankee letterhead, official letterhead, and invited me to come up to the stadium for an interview with Nick Priori, who's the clubhouse manager. So I put my jacket and tie on, and I don't even think I told any of my friends about this because it was way, way too weird to explain. So I went up, took the 4 train up to the stadium and walked into the, you know, walked around the stadium. And this is October, so they weren't playing in the World Series in October back in 91. So it was very, very quiet. And I walked around the stadium and walked into the Yankee lobby and there's a security guard there. And I introduce myself and I say, I'm here for the bat boy interview. And he picks up the telephone and he's like, you know, Nick, some kid's here to see you. And, you know, okay. So he says, have a seat. So I sit down in the pinstripe lobby and I'm passing about 10 minutes waiting for this guy Nick to come up for the first job interview of my life or the first job of my life. And. And I'm trying to think of the questions that he might ask me. So I'm ready to tell him what my favorite subject is in school and tell him why I think the Yankees need a big bat behind Mattingly to win the pennant next year and what Mickey Mantle's batting average was in 1956. And all these different questions. So I'm kind of passing the time and these double doors burst open and this guy walks in, obviously Nick, but he doesn't introduce himself. He's, you know, could be anywhere from 40 to 80 years of age. He has this greased back hair and he has a stogie between the two teeth left in his mouth and a chop tobacco, possibly also. And this wife beater T shirt and Yankee shorts and white athletic socks pulled up to his knees. And he has shoe polish, like black sneakers that are obviously shoe polished. And he just looks at me and says, are your parents going to mind you taking the train home late at night? So I say, you know, I take the train to school every day. I think it'll be fine. And he just kind of looks at me and finally I say, no, I don't think my parents will mind me taking the train home late at night. And he says, we'll come back opening day. So that was October, you know, I go home, I think I have the job. I'm not really sure. And, you know, six months later, opening day, 1993, I show up at 9:00am I put on my jacket and tie, I walk back to the stadium. I go back downstairs through these tunnels and come to this big steel door that says Yankee Clubhouse on. And I walk inside and it's complete pandemonium. And there's these ball players that I'd only seen before on TV or across rows and rows of stadium seats. And they're there in the flesh in front of me. And Dom Mattingly is over on the right. And I had a poster of Dom Mattingly above my bed, you know, for my whole life. And he's standing right over there. And Jimmy Key, the ace of the pitching staff is over there and all these guys. And, you know, opening day, Yankee Stadium is not just a sports event, it's a news event. It's the beginning of spring in New York, and Mayor Dinkins is there with his entourage. And just Mayor Dinkins and Dom. Addingly, you know, it's so walking around and just kind of lost and I figure, you know, I better go find Nick. So I walk up to Nick and I say, nick, what do you. You know, what do you. I'm mad. We met a couple months ago. What do you want me to do? It's my first day of work. So he says, stay that f out of my way. So I kind of like, shrink back and throw my backpack over on the side and just kind of wander around in a daze. And I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I turn around and it's Dom Mattingly. And he sticks his hand out and he says, how's it going? I'm Dom Mattingly. Are you going to be working with us this year? Which even at that moment, I never really thought about the experience in those terms. And he could have said so many other things that wouldn't have been as cool as that. He could have said, who are you? Or are you the new bat boy? Are you going to be working for us this year? But he said, I'm Dom Mattingly. Are you going to be working with us this year? I said, I know who you are, Mr. Mattingly. I'm Matt. I'm the new bat boy. And he's like, great to meet you, Matt. I have a very big, very big job to ask of you. I've just unpacked all my bats from spring training. And I don't know if it was the altitude of the flight from Florida or the humidity down there or what, but the game starts in about two hours, and I need you to find me a bat stretcher. So I say, okay. So I go and find Nick. And I go, you know, Nick is busy. Probably half a dozen ballplayers are, like, bothering him for double A batteries or, you know, my hat sizes, my hat's too small or this or that. And I go up and I'm like, nick, I need a bachelor Don Mattingly. And he lets loose with a stream of expletives that fell on, I swear, completely virgin ears. Like, I never. Never heard that type of language in the movies before or anywhere, let alone direct it at me. So I kind of, like, rock back on my heels and go and find somebody I can trust, like Nick's assistant, Rob. And I ask him, you know, I need a bachelor of about Mattingly. And Nick told me to go F myself. And I don't know what to do. So he was like, chill out. I saw Danny Tartable using one in his lockers. So Danny Chartable's the power hitting right fielder. I go to his locker and he's getting Dressed in his uniform. And I stand off on the side and he says, how's it going? And I'm like, fine. I'm Matt, I'm the new bat boy. And I need a bat stretcher for Don Mattingly. And I heard you were just using one. So he's like, well, I was using one, but I left it in the manager's office. You should probably go check in. So I say, thanks. He says, see you around. And I go into the manager's office and walk in and Buck Showalter, the manager, is having a press conference with probably like eight or 10 reporters. And I stand off on the side and I'm kind of, you know, the conversation comes to a standstill, basically because there's a 16 year old kid there in his Easter blazer and jacket standing in the manager's office at Yankee Stadium two hours before first pitch on opening day, looking very lost and very anxious. And Showalter turns to me and he's like, can I help you? And I say, I'm mad. I'm the new bap. I'm really sorry to interrupt, but I need a bash dresser for Dom Mattingly. And Danny Chartable says that he left it in here. So Showalter looks down, like beneath his desk, and you know, he's like, well, you know, do you need a right handed one or a left handed one? So this is the first moment all day that I actually, you know, this is the first question that I had that I could answer with complete confidence. Because you couldn't have grown up in New York at that time, you know, without knowing that Matt Ainley was the best left handed hitter in baseball. So I say, but I need a left handed bass stretcher. So he's like, well, I think we maybe have a right handed one around here, but probably not a left handed one. I'm like, you should try down at the Red Sox clubhouse and see if they have one. So I said, okay, thanks. I'm sorry to interrupt. I go, at this point, I'm like spiritual sprinting down the hallways, like the tunnels beneath the stands. The first base stands at the stadium and I run into the Red Sox clubhouse and find their equipment manager and give him like the whole story. I'm at him, the new bat boy for the Yankees, and Danny Charlebill left his right handed bass stretcher in Buck Schultz office and he left handed one. And like the game's about to start and he's like, calm down. Like, you know, we don't have one, but we need one. Like here's 20 bucks. Go up to the sporting goods store on 161st street and River Avenue and buy two. Like, buy a left handed one for Matt Henley and a right handed one for us, and then bring me back the. So he gives me the 20, I put it in my pocket, I run upstairs. You know, at this point, it's like an hour before opening day, the fans are coming down, like 50,000 fans are coming down from, you know, the subway in the opposite direction that I'm walking. I'm the only person in the world who knows that, you know, if I don't come through on this mission, Mattingly is going to go up there against Roger Clemens and the Red Sox on opening day at Yankee Stadium with a toothpick in his hand, basically. So I'm like fighting against the crowd and feeling so much weight on my shoulders. And I make my way, you know, and I'm about to cross the threshold of Stan Sporting Goods when it dawns on me like, I've played a lot of baseball in my life and I've, you know, been a big fan for a while and like, I don't even know what a Bach stretcher looks like. And this moment that I'm like walking into the store, it dawns on me for the first time, like, is, is this a joke? Like, could this possibly, could this possibly be a joke? And if it, you know, but I had so much fear because, like, if it is a joke and I go back and I tell Don Mattingly, you know, I'm too smart to fall for your, you know, your BS bat stretcher story, and I'm wrong, I'm going to be back in the bleachers like before my first game, you know, and lose my dream job. So, you know, I take three laps around the stadium, kind of convincing myself like, it's got to be a joke, like it's got to be a joke. And I, you know, I walk back in, I go down the stairs, I walk into the clubhouse. Mattingly winks at me from across the clubhouse. A couple of other ballplayers laugh. Mattingly goes 3 for 5 that day. Yankees win. It was my first day in pinstripes. And, you know, I didn't learn until later on that I was the first kid in anyone's memory to have gotten the job without having a connection, without somebody knowing somebody or my dad knowing somebody or whatever, which was a lesson in itself and, you know, as intensely naive my pursuit of that job was. You know, I was probably as naively intense in chasing the bat stretcher. But you know, the lesson in the story is, you know, when there's with a great deal of persistence and a little bit of common sense, even if the thing you're chasing may not exist, you can sometimes will it into being. Thank you.
- [26:14]
Dan Kennedy
Matthew McGough is an author, journalist and television writer. He's currently writing a true crime book about convicted LAPD detective Stephanie Lazarus. Matthew wrote on NBC's Law & Order and also the CBS series Clubhouse was based on his memoir Coming of Age with the New York Yankees. All right, that's it for this week. I'm Dan Kennedy, host of the Moth Podcast. The Moth Podcast is produced by Whitney Jones. Moth events are recorded by Argo Studios in New York City supervised by Paul Ruest. And the Moth Podcast and the Radio Hour are presented by prx, the Public Radio Exchange, helping make public radio more public@prx.org thanks to all of you for listening. We hope you have a story worthy week.