“The Old Lamplighter”
A Time Remembered
“A cloud of dust and a hearty High Ho Silver!”
They smile together as the little boy and his Dad join forces, pulling for the masked man and his trusted sidekick to win out against the bad guys. Neither of them knew what the name “Kemosahbee” meant, except for the fact it definitely had to be something good.
The Time Frame
The great world war had been over for two years…
1947: Jackie Robinson is brought to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers and becomes the first African American on a Major League Baseball team. That same year, he is named ‘Rookie of the Year’ and featured on the cover of Time magazine.
It was sixty-five years ago, from the city of Pasadena in a place called California, when the baseball world grudgingly gave in to God. Under a more pressured environment than any human being should ever have to compete within, strode an athlete and man equal to any hero our little boy would ever see reprised in his lifetime. No person had ever entered and performed while experiencing the piercing slings and arrows heaped on the broad shoulders of Jackie Robinson.
Our little boy was overcome by the magnitude of Jackie Robinson. That night his skin color – magnified by the white flannel of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ home uniform – was a surreal emphasis on fortitude never since equaled. Jackie’s presence as he warmed up, seemingly in perfect harmony with the organ music being played by Gladys Gooding was over powering.
A Piece of Brooklyn Dodger History
May 8, 1942 – At Ebbets Field, with more than 24‚000 fans on hand‚ nearly $60‚000 is raised for the Navy Relief Fund‚ as all the proceeds are donated. Everyone‚ including the ball players and umps‚ pays their way into the park. The Dodgers also debut a celebrated rookie: Gladys Gooding who plays the “Victory Calliope,” the second organ played in MLB stadiums. Gooding will continue playing for the Dodgers until 1958, when the team moves west.
And, of course there is one more thing…
Perfect for Memorial Weekend, Harv. Thanks for the memories! God Bless……….live life gently,
Pamela Tansey