By Donna Shreve 2013
Baseball has woven its way through several generations of our family. Baseball is a fun theme to explore, as it will reveal various characters in our family at play.
Christmas Day at Grandpa and Grandma Aldrich’s included a baseball game between the older and younger generations. This tradition continued for several years until the younger generation won. According to Jack Swagerty, the next year the game changed to horseshoes.
In the early 1940s, Everett Aldrich played on the Hughson High School team. The team was having a great season and they went on to win the championship against a much bigger Turlock High School.
Abraham Aldrich, and two of his gentlemen friends, faithfully went to the games of his grandson Everett. They became a great cheering squad. They sat in the bleachers in their suits and hat. Everett’s teammates noticed one game that their best fans were not there. Everett had to explain that his grandfather was ill. It turns out Grandpa Aldrich had stomach cancer and died September 1943.
When the Hughson team won the championship, the team signed a ball for Everett to give to his grandfather who was quite pleased with the gesture.
After his grandfather died, Everett received that prized ball. Later when Everett had sons of his own, one the sons used the ball to play with his friends. The ball still exists but it is a bit scuffed.
Pearl Aldrich Swagerty told a story of how she used to enjoy watching the boys play baseball. Her mother was horrified as Pearl was developing a tan. Pearl was brought inside where her mother rubbed her skin with lemon in an attempt to lighten her skin. It was not considered lady like to have a tan in those days.
Wilbur and Elmer Swagerty were quite the battery. Wilbur could pitch with either arm effectively and Elmer was the catcher. They were good enough to attract the attention of a scout from Cincinnati Red Stockings. They were offered a chance to try out for the professional team.
For some reason Wilbur and Elmer were a package deal. One version was that the brothers made a pact with other. I remember Grandpa Elmer telling this story several times over the years. He would get angry with each telling. Wilbur had found religion with a new commitment. He had been raised in the Methodist church but now he was quite serious. Wilbur wanted to strickly observe the Sabbath thus no playing of baseball on Sunday. The deal was off.
Years later Darrell was telling his father, Elmer, that Keith had developed so well as a pitcher that he couldn’t catch him any more. Elmer scoffed and claimed he could still catch his grandson. Outside they went and all was going well until Keith threw a slider that hit Elmer’s foot. That injury activated gout in Elmer, which he suffered for the rest of his life. Years later Keith started his gout that probably was passed down through the generations from Grandpa Elmer.
Moving to the next generation, Floyd took his family of six to Candlestick Park to watch the Giants play. I remember one particular game we attended in 1962. The Giants were playing the New York Mets in their first year as an expansion team. The Giants had a very fun team with a lot of well-known players. Stu Miller, Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry were the well-known pitchers. Infielders included Orlando Cepeda, Jim Davenport, Jose Pagan, and Chuck Hiller. Outfielders were Felipe Alou, brother Matty Alou, Willie McCovey(who actually played first for our game) and Willie Mays. They went on to be the National League Champions that year and then lost to the Yankees in the World Series in seven games.
After checking the 1962 Giants schedule, I know we attended the game on May 26, 1962 on a Saturday. The next day was a double header. Dad had received six complimentary tickets from some salesman. Dad was business manager for the district that year and salesmen like to thank Dad for their contract with the district.
We had excellent seats in the box section right down on the field level. Box seats were a platform in a box area with moveable seats. There were many things to entertain the four of us kids. Our favorite was a certain beer vender who would yell “beer” in a voice that sounded quite like a burp. I remember him from several games as we would look for him at every game and wait for his call.
The game on this particular day was going rather slowly. It was basically a defensive game. By the sixth inning, Mom had had enough. She decided that the kids were restless. Brian and I certainly were not and I don’t remember Jane or Grant at ages nine and six being a problem. None the less, Mom decided we were done. Dad was not ready to go but he gave into Mom’s wishes. When we got into the car, Dad put the game on the radio.
As we were crossing the Bay Bridge, the game broke open. Home runs and plenty of scoring put the Giants ahead to win. We cheered in the back seat and Dad gave a sideward glance to Mom that basically said we should still be at that game. Brian and I have attended many baseball games since and, in tribute to Dad, we rarely leave a game until the last pitch.
Darrell took his grandson Keith, son of Darrellyn, to many Seattle Mariners’ games. Keith was such a fan and wore his team baseball hat proudly.
Aaron Shreve, son of Donna used to escort his grandmother Melva to several years of Spring Training games in Arizona. Brian and I were amused by Mom’s enthusiasm for the game. She became quite a fan and had a head full of statistics and trivia on the game. Mom’s last game was in July 4, 2006 in San Diego. The Padres were playing the Giants. Three generations attended that game as Brian brought his grandson Zacherie.
Mom and I attended five Opening Days at A T & T park, her last being 2006. I had a mutual friend of Brian’s who shared his season tickets with me. In 2002 Aaron and I got to watch the National League playoff win against the St Louis Cardinals with Brian and his son Jesse. Aaron and I also got to watch one game of the 2002 World Series against the L.A. Angels. That was a life long memory.
In 2012,Aaron and I attended the Giants World Series Winning parade in San Francisco. Aaron has now taken his son to at least one game every year since he was born. Baseball is alive and well in our family and is being passed along to the next generations.
Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 