Looking Back At Boyhood Heroes

Ike Brown died a little over a month ago. Another one of my boyhood ballplayers has passed to the field of dreams. Reading his obit I learned that he had gotten his start in professional baseball by playing in the Negro leagues, then signing a contract with the Tigers and toiling 8 years in the minors before getting the chance to play in Detroit.

Gates Brown, his roommate for some of those seasons, remarked that Ike was the kind of guy who woke up with a smile, appreciating every day that he was alive and playing ball. Gates Brown was one of my boyhood heroes too.

Ike and Gates played for the Duluth Dukes in the 60s. I was fortunate to be able to see many of the Tigers who went on to playoff and World Series stardom play at venerable old Wade Stadium, a stadium I return to every summer, a stadium that still remains virtually unchanged from when I knew it as a wide-eyed kid. Besides the above-mentioned Browns I got to watch Mickey Stanley, Jim Northrup, Willie Horton, Bill Freehan, Jim Rooker and Denny McLain, among many others. These players I have long since pursued for autographs, and just leafing through my Tiger scrapbook brings back a ton of memories.

I recall the last time I saw Denny McLain, whom I remembered as a cocky kid with more talent than any one person deserved as a pitcher. He made an appearance at a Quad City card show, looking old as my father now. When I told him that I used to watch him pitch at Wade Stadium, he said "bullshit! You can't be that old." I gave him my age, he did the math, then sighed, and said, "guess you're right." We talked for awhile about former Dukes and he remarked that he'd just paid Jim Rooker a visit the past week. I guess Jim owns a bar out in Pennsylvania now, and Denny....Well, his luck has gone from bad to worse. He was serving time for a racketeering charge, I believe, last I heard. I still remember him as that lean, talented kid who took the mound in Duluth and led one of the finest minor league teams ever to a championship.

Autographs are more than names on pieces of cardboard...they're links to the past.

Good luck, and have fun with the hobby. I sure do.

~ Rich Hanson