chapter 11 my life in the left-half plane

Cardinal-Dodger Baseball Games in the Los Angeles Coliseum

Like Dad, I was a St Louis Cardinal fan. When the Los Angeles Dodgers relocated for the 1958 season, it afforded us the opportunity to attend games. Until Dodger Stadium opened in 1962, the Dodgers played in the Coliseum. Remarkably, in 1958, 1959, 1960, and 1961, when I was between the ages of 11 and 15, playing catcher in Little League Baseball, and more interested in the game than I had been before or since, every August the Cardinals played the Dodgers in Los Angeles. We went to a daytime double-header on August 17, 1958, a game on my birthday in 1959, on August 19 in 1960, and August 14 in 1961. I got to see my boyhood hero, Stan “the Man” Musial take his famous crouch in the batter’s box. 

When the New York Yankees came for an exhibition game on Roy Campenella Day on May 17, 1959, Dad and I joined more than 90,000 fans for the night game. We had nose-bleed seats in the top row in straight away center field, about a quarter mile from home plate. We followed the action as much with our ears listening to Vin Scully on our transistor radio as with our eyes. But when they turned off the lights and asked everyone to light a candle or a cigarette lighter or a flashlight and 90,000 lights filled the stadium, well, then, from our vantage point, we had the best seats in the place. And no one remembers the game, just that candlelit moment.

December 31, 1959: Our Viewing Platform for the 1960 Rose Parade

I well remember how I spent New Year’s Eve on December 31, 1959. It was in our garage at 9729 El Venado. Mom and Dad were going to take all four of us to the Tournament of Rose Parade on Colorado Avenue in Pasadena on New Year’s Day—the first day of the 1960s. I was 12 years old at the time. Dad had gone out and bought a load of 8 ft 2x4’s and loaded them into our 1955 Buick station wagon, along with a generous supply of bolts and wingnuts. We had the radio on in the garage as we listened to midnight celebrations in New York at 9 pm, Chicago at 10 pm. Denver at 11. pm, and Los Angeles at midnight. We cut and drilled the lumber and built a dolly with wheels and a rope to pull it. Before going to bed, we loaded the car with our creation. 

Arriving the next morning south of Colorado Blvd, we piled all the pre-drilled and cut 2x4s on the dolly and attached the rope and Dad pulled the whole assembly (pictured) to our chosen viewing spot east of Hill Street about two miles from the start of the five-mile long. parade route. There we erected a platform that provided a view (pictured) over the heads of those who had come earlier. The whole family then enjoyed the parade without straining to look over the heads of people in front of us. One envious spectator offered Dad $10 to allow him to watch with us. Dad declined. That’s how I spent the first day of the tumultuous 1960s. I still savor the memory.